Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Msc Mediterranean Shipping Sa
Search every verified Soren Toft interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. In September 2019, Søren Toft, then Chief Operating Officer of Maersk, spoke at the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York. He presented the "Getting to Zero Coalition," a new initiative aimed at decarbonizing the maritime industry. Toft stated that Maersk had set a target of becoming carbon neutral by 2050, describing this goal as necessary for the world, future generations, and the shipping sector's relevance as a servant of global trade. He argued that fully decarbonizing shipping by 2050 would require a total shift in propulsion technologies and energy sources, and that the first commercially viable carbon-neutral vessel should be in service by 2030. Toft emphasized that the climate crisis requires urgent and collaborative action. He noted that while Maersk had been a leader in CO2 efficiency for over a decade and expected to improve efficiency by 60 percent by 2030, this would only absorb growth, leaving total emissions unchanged. He expressed confidence that the Getting to Zero Coalition could help accelerate innovation, scale efforts, and create the framework conditions needed to achieve the 2030 milestone, and suggested it could serve as a model for other hard-to-abate sectors.
“Il y aura toujours un incendie que vous devez résoudre. La chose à laquelle nous devrons faire face dans les deux prochaines décennies c'est la situation macroéconomique et la situation macropolitique que nous voyons. Nous avons des montées de protectionnisme à la situation mondiale, nous avons la guerre en Ukraine et...”
“Pour nous la solution ce n'est pas forcément au niveau de ce qu'on dit c'est au niveau de ce qu'on fait les investissements que nous faisons les concessions que nous renouvelons les projets que nous maintenons l'expansion que nous soutenons dans l'engagement et la contribution que nous pouvons apporter... je pense que...”
“I think first of all commitment to Africa means that you have a long-term mindset you cannot be committed to Africa if you're just looking for the next quarterly earnings it's not going to work so you really have to have a long-term orientation.”
“every single company and this is the real problem is trying to become the expert of the future fuel which is a little bit of a mess right we're a shipping company we're a logistics company we're a terminal company we're not a fuel producer but we are forced and we do it to now become experts in that part too.”
“I can say I'm a big African believer. I'm a big African believer because I think the demographics speak for themselves. We all know that this continent will go from 1.3 billion people to more than 2 billion people in 30 years. All of these people want and deserve the same life that the rest of us, meaning GDP per capit...”
“The real challenge with decarbonization is not the ships, the engines, all of the technologies are available. The real challenge for all of us running ships, whether it's cruise ships, cargo ships, bulk ships and so on, is the availability of fuel, the availability of the green fuel. And this is why we have said all al...”
The climate crisis is real and requires urgent and collaborative action. The maritime sector is ready to step up to the challenge.
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