Theme: Sustainability
Industry Adoption: ⚫ ⚪ ⚪ ⚪ Early Adopters
Impact: ⚫ ⚫ ⚪ Significant

A 2024 Maersk survey shows that decision makers rank Decarbonisation 11th out of the top 15 trends.

The logistics industry stands at a crossroads as decarbonisation emerges as both an urgent challenge and a significant opportunity. Investments to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in shipping are essential, though uncertainty remains about the return (ROI) on these investments. The logistics sector faces regulatory requirements like the CII, EU ETS and FuelEU Maritime, with stricter rules anticipated to come. By 2030, decarbonised logistics could account for 350 billion USD of a 2.05 trillion USD logistics market, underscoring its growing significance.

Market activity reflects high interest in this trend. Over 5,000 patents have been filed between 2019 and 2023, of which 700 are considered groundbreaking. Scientific research is also robust, with nearly 9,500 publications, placing this trend in the upper echelon of innovation. C-Suite mentions have moderated from 1,700 in 2022 to 940 in 2024. This suggests that the trend is maturing from the early adopter stage towards full industry integration. 

^{Average values of the top ten trends: Startups: 57; Patents 9,327 (thereof 316 groundbreaking); Science Publications: 6,141; C-Suite Mentions 1,376; More C-Suite mentions typically signal that trends are in the early or early adopter stage, while fewer indicate movement towards full integration or the industry standard.}

Top 15 Trends

Share of Key Decision Makers, who consider the trend to be relevant for their company’s logistics

Decarbonisation – Relevance by Industry

What are the opportunities?

Efforts in decarbonisation reduce GHG emissions and align with operational efficiency. 

What are the challenges?

Challenges for the decarbonisation of logistics include limited availability of lower GHG emissions fuels like methanol, as well as high costs, and technological gaps in battery-powered vessels for long-haul routes. Inconsistent decarbonisation metrics and customer hesitancy to absorb premium costs also hinder widespread adoption.  

Sources:

• McKinsey (2024).
• Survey among 500+ global logistics decision makers across various industries, conducted by Statista for Maersk (Q4 2024).
• In-depth interviews with global industry experts, academia, and futurists.
• Unstructured web sources with more than 10,000 search term permutations using AI.
• Curated data from startup databases, patent databases, and analysis tools, as well as Semantic Scholar.