THE CMA CGM group says it is launching an eco-calculator for customers to measure the carbon footprint of supply chain activities via its e-business platform that will be available from April.

Accessible from the company's web site, the tool is designed to produce a calculation of the carbon footprint of a journey, based on real data, including points of departure and arrival, volume of freight, fuel consumption and vessel speed. It is said to have been developed in accordance with the methodology of international body, the Clean Cargo Working Group (CCWG).

"We hope this eco-calculator will prove a useful tool in the decision making process and will help customers to determine the optimal mode of transport from an ecological point of view," said the group's environment director Philippe Borel.

The company said in a statement that the introduction of this tool is in line with the group's commitment to fight climate change, "one that has already seen a 26 per cent drop in CO2 emissions between 2007 and 2010 (from 107 to 85 grams/kilometre-teu). The target is 80g/km-teu by the end of 2012, a reduction of 30 per cent in five years," it said.