What does a zero-carbon shipping fleet look like?

Nine global retailers, including Amazon, IKEA, Unilever, Patagonia, and Inditex, the fast fashion retailer that owns Zara, announced today (Oct. 19) that they will aim to progressively switch to zero-carbon vessels to ship their goods by 2040. The companies, who charter cargo space on ships by the millions of tons, were convened by the Aspen Institute nonprofit, and the announcement is intended to galvanize an industry that has so far been moving slowly toward reducing its carbon emissions. Shipping makes up about 3% of the world’s annual global emissions, a substantial share—if the ocean were a country, it would be the sixth largest CO2 emitter in the world.