Decarbonization of container terminals: An organizational journey

• A strategy is provided guiding multi-site companies to achieve NetZero targets. • Action-based research across eight sites led to local decarbonization roadmaps. • Establishing a standard process, toolbox, and stakeholder engagement is key. • Empirical insights highlight global operators’ efforts to achieve sustainability. • Decarbonization’s distinctive characteristics as transformation program are discussed. While initiatives to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gases are abundant, there has been limited guidance on how ports and container terminals can implement a NetZero strategy. This study investigates the experiences of a global terminal operator transitioning from a high-level NetZero target toward concrete decarbonization strategies. Through action-based research, local decarbonization roadmaps were developed across eight sites. Key elements of the roadmaps, such as a standard process, toolbox, and stakeholder engagement overview, are outlined to facilitate replication. This study provides lessons on how decarbonization differs from other transformations and offers a practical guide for multi-site companies to activate their NetZero strategies. It also advances Green Port and business sustainability literature by presenting empirical insights into a global terminal operator’s efforts to mature its sustainability practices through decarbonization.