Are You Trying to Decarbonise an Industry Alone? — Pernille Dahlgaard, Centre for Zero Carbon Shipping

Pernille Dahlgaard’s path into maritime decarbonisation began far from the sea. An economist by training, she traces her worldview to an early move from Denmark to Rio de Janeiro, an experience that gave her a lasting awareness of inequality and a determination to leave things a little better than she found them. 

Early development work in Africa taught her that lasting change comes from building skills alongside people rather than doing things for them, a conviction that later drew her into international shipping. 

Today, as Chief Impact Officer at the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Centre for Zero Carbon Shipping, an independent, science-based not-for-profit of roughly 120 people, she leads on regulation and policy, business modelling, and techno-economic modelling, working across the full ecosystem of an industry racing to reach net zero.

What is the biggest misconception about leadership at your level?

Pernille reflects on how seniority is often mistaken for superior intelligence.

“We have 30 different nationalities working in the Centre, which in itself is super inspiring. What surprises me a little is when people look at me as unapproachable or high in the hierarchy, when I’m just little me. Some cultures take whatever you say as very serious and very insightful. And of course I like to think that sometimes I say something insightful. But maybe the myth is that because people are higher in the hierarchy, they are by definition more clever or smarter. I don’t think they are. I’ve seen a lot.”

Why does maritime decarbonisation depend on orchestrating the whole ecosystem?

Pernille describes why no single actor can move the industry, using the analogy of an orchestra.

“The maritime industry is international, it is heavy capex, and everything is very intertwined. You can have vessels that sail on green fuel, but if you don’t have the fuel available, the vessel cannot sail. Even with green fuel and a green vessel, if you don’t have the facilities in the port to move the fuel, you still can’t make it happen. To make a hard-to-abate sector decarbonise, you need every party to move at the right time. Not necessarily at the same speed. But you need an orchestra that can ensure everything moves so the barriers are removed as you hit them.”

How does the Centre use partnerships to create innovation?

Pernille explains how the Centre was established and how its partnership model works in practice.

“The Centre was established thanks to a generous donation from the family office behind Mærsk, one of the biggest shipping companies in the world, to create a philanthropic foundation that could accelerate the decarbonisation of the maritime industry. Unless we get representation from everybody in the ecosystem on board, we can’t do anything. 

So we created partnerships with 20 global multinationals connected to shipping. Shipping companies, shipyards, energy companies, regulators, lawyers, financial organisations, technology providers. Each strategic partner sends three of their best people into the Centre. Of the 120 people we have, half are paid by the original donation and the other half by our partners.”

Can you give a real example of a barrier the Centre has solved?

Pernille walks through the split-incentive problem that keeps proven energy efficiency technology from being adopted.

“There is a lot of available energy efficiency technology that is mature, profitable, and accessible, but it’s not being taken up. If it were adopted across the entire fleet of 100,000 commercial vessels, we could save 15 per cent of all the fuel going into shipping, which is 150 million tons of CO2. One reason is that the capex owner and the opex owner are not the same. 

The ship owner has to pay for the technology, but the operator is the one who saves on fuel. We designed an addendum to the contract, and then we had to solve measurement, because a vessel can have tailwind or headwind. So together with classification societies, regulators, shipping companies, and operators, we developed guidelines to measure the baseline and correct for external factors. We test whether it works with our partners, and if it works, we share it with the world.”

Which technology is overhyped, and what concerns you most?

Pernille names an overhyped technology and shares why artificial intelligence worries rather than excites her.

“Blockchain is overhyped. On artificial intelligence, I wouldn’t say I’m excited; I’m more concerned. It’s something we need to take incredibly seriously, and right now, as humanity, we are not living up to the responsibility we should take. We are allowing it to be developed in an uncontrolled way, allowing a few people to have far too much power, and it is extremely concerning that there is no regulation controlling what we do.”

What early-career learning shaped your leadership philosophy?

Pernille shares a formative mismatch early in her career and what it taught her about trusting herself.

“There’s a Danish philosopher, Kierkegaard, who says you live life forwards and understand it backwards, and I think that’s very true. Early on I ended up in a company that was a complete mismatch; they were looking for a personality I was not. My mistake was thinking that I was wrong. In hindsight, they were not wrong, and I was not wrong; it was simply a wrong match. 

When you finish university, you believe it is critical where you start, but there is one person responsible for your life, and that’s you. If you’re not happy where you are, you have the power to change it. Very few people regret the things they did; they regret the things they did not do.”

What skill do you wish you had developed earlier?

Pernille reflects on self-trust and caring less about hierarchy.

“Trust in myself and trust in my intuition. I still have a tendency to believe that because people are higher in the hierarchy, they are smarter. I lived in Africa for a couple of years, and afterwards some very senior people in Denmark realised I had done a really good job in difficult circumstances. I could have used that to build my career, but I was too shy to book a meeting with the partner when I was home. 

I saw myself as little me, junior, not knowing much, sitting in front of a man 40 years older who was actually interested in what I thought. You might be lower in the hierarchy and younger, but it doesn’t mean you’re not equally smart or equally interesting to talk to.”

What is the one thing you want people to take away?

Pernille closes on a measure of genuine equality that reframes the conversation.

“That we don’t have gender equality. In many places people say we have equality, but we don’t. Until we have as many incompetent female bosses as we have incompetent male bosses, we don’t have equality. That equal level of incompetency is the measure of whether we’re there, and of course at the same time we can work on improving that level for everyone.”

Join the Conversation: The Ortus Club’s Executive Network

As Pernille’s perspective shows, the hardest challenges in decarbonisation are systemic, and they are rarely solved by any organisation working alone. Leaders at this level increasingly rely on structured, cross-sector dialogue to align incentives, test frameworks, and move barriers together rather than in isolation.

Her orchestration model reflects a broader reality: the most effective executives actively seek out peer dialogue as a strategic necessity, bridging the gap between global ambition and on-the-ground execution.

At The Ortus Club, we host curated executive roundtables that bring together senior leaders facing these exact challenges. Step away from siloed thinking and engage in the kind of open, high-value conversations that turn shared problems into shared solutions.

FAQs Section

Q: What does the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Centre for Zero Carbon Shipping do?

A: It is an independent, science-based not-for-profit working across the full maritime ecosystem to accelerate the industry’s decarbonisation, finding solutions to the systemic problems that hold that transition back.

Q: Why is shipping considered a hard-to-abate sector?

A: Shipping is international, capital-intensive, and highly intertwined, so green fuel, green vessels, port facilities, safety measures, and regulation all have to advance together before any single vessel can operate cleanly.

Q: What is the split-incentive problem in energy efficiency?

A: The capex owner who pays to install energy efficiency technology is often not the opex owner who benefits from the fuel savings, which discourages adoption. Contractual addenda and agreed measurement frameworks are needed to align the two.

Q: How does the Centre’s partnership model work?

A: Around 20 global multinationals across the shipping ecosystem each second three of their best people into the Centre, creating cross-company collaboration that generates innovation and shared understanding.

Q: How much fuel could energy efficiency technology save across the global fleet?

A: If adopted across the roughly 100,000 commercial vessels in the global fleet, mature energy efficiency technology could save about 15 percent of shipping’s fuel, equivalent to around 150 million tons of CO2.