AD Ports cuts emissions intensity 6% while revenue climbs 20%

AD Ports Group cut its total emissions intensity by 6% in 2025, to 190.68 tCO2e per AED 1 million of revenue, down from 203.06 tCO2e in 2024 — and it did so in a year when Group revenue jumped 20% to AED 20.77 billion.

That combination is the whole story in miniature. The Abu Dhabi operator grew fast and decoupled at least part of its carbon footprint from that growth, according to its 2025 Sustainability Report.

Absolute emissions still rose. Total emissions across the Group's own activities and its full value chain — Scopes 1, 2 and 3 — climbed 13% to 3,957,755 tCO2e. Thirteen percent is a big number. But it sits below the 20% revenue growth, which is the gap the intensity metric captures.

Where the emissions sit

The Maritime and Shipping Cluster generated 51% of Group revenue and accounted for 50% of Group emissions. Ports followed at 24%, Logistics at 21%, and Economic Cities and Free Zones at 5%.

In plain terms: the shipping business is both the earnings engine and the biggest carbon line on the balance sheet. Any decarbonisation plan that doesn't move maritime has limited reach.

On the operations side, the Group bought 47,960 MWh of renewable energy certificates in 2025 and diverted 10,303 tonnes of waste — a 24% increase on 2024.

What does the $636 million buy?

In 2025, AD Ports Group adopted a formal decarbonisation pathway covering both its operations and its value chain. It runs on 139 initiatives planned between 2025 and 2050, aligned with the Paris Agreement's 2°C goal and the UAE Net Zero 2050 strategic initiative.

The pathway is backed by a projected USD 636 million investment over 25 years. The target: a cumulative reduction of 2.9 million tCO2e.

That works out to roughly $219 of capital for every tonne of CO2e removed over the programme's life. It's a long-horizon bet, not a quick fix.

Concrete 2025 moves included:

• LNG-powered Pure Car and Truck Carrier (PCTC) vessels in the United Global Ro-Ro venture
• Ship-to-ship LNG bunkering operations
• Plans, together with Nimex Terminals, to develop LNG and LPG terminal hubs at Khalifa Port

The fuel theme is unmistakable. LNG is the near-term lever the Group is pulling across its fleet, its bunkering services and its terminal infrastructure.

Why management cares

Executive compensation of senior management is linked in part to the achievement of sustainability targets. That ties the decarbonisation pathway to pay, not just to publications — a mechanism that tends to keep programmes funded when budgets tighten.

Captain Saif Al Mheiri, Abu Dhabi Maritime CEO and Group Chief Sustainability and Risk Officer, called defining a net zero pathway across a business of AD Ports Group's scale a significant achievement. He said sustainable growth is achievable at scale when decarbonisation is embedded into corporate strategy and decision-making.

What this changes for shippers and carriers

For cargo owners tracking Scope 3 exposure, a falling intensity figure from a major Gulf port and shipping operator makes the emissions accounting on Middle East trade lanes slightly easier. For carriers and forwarders partnering with the Group, the LNG infrastructure build-out at Khalifa Port signals where bunkering capacity will concentrate over the coming years.

The trajectory matters more than the 2025 snapshot. With 139 initiatives queued through 2050 and LNG terminals on the drawing board at Khalifa Port, expect the intensity figure to keep falling while absolute emissions — for now — keep climbing.