Major maritime companies align behind book-and-claim approach to certification
By on July 10, 2023
Joint statement from Global Maritime Forum
Key members in the global shipping sector – the Aspen Shipping Decarbonization Initiative, DHL Global Forwarding, Hapag Lloyd, Kuehne + Nagel, NORDEN, Oldendorff Carriers, ONE, Torvald Klaveness, and Yara Clean Ammonia – have joined GMF to commit to developing and implementing “robust book and claim chain of custody systems” to accelerate the uptake of new maritime fuels. The signatories acknowledge that the principal challenge to this certification approach is a lack of understanding, with progress at risk of being “bogged down in confusion and suspicion”. The major challenges include:
• Scepticism around the effectiveness of book and claim approaches and concerns that they may be abused
From Joint statement in support of book and claim chain of custody approaches to accelerate shipping decarbonisation, GMF, 3 July 2023
• Concern over the proliferation of systems and standards under discussion and in operation so far
• Lack of clarity around the role and accreditation of third-party registries for tracking and managing claims
In terms of actions, the signatories have committed to a number of items, including:
• …to agree on the use of clear and consistent rules and standards and wherever possible, reinforce approaches already in use in regulation, including the well-to-wake approaches in forthcoming IMO guidelines
From Joint statement in support of book and claim chain of custody approaches to accelerate shipping decarbonisation, GMF, 3 July 2023
• …to share learnings and foster understanding among our respective customers
• …[to] work in parallel to increase our direct and safe physical use of zero- and near-zero-emission fuels
A key action item for the signatories – progress towards the adoption of a full life cycle or well-to-wake accounting approach for greenhouse emissions – was a major outcome of the IMO’s MEPC 80 meeting in London last week.
Book & claim is fast rising in prominence as a potential approach to catalyze the uptake of ammonia as a maritime fuel. The Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping, IRENA and – in a March briefing paper – the Global Maritime Forum have all set out the benefits of the certification approach in publications this year.
Book and claim systems are going to be essential tools for getting decarbonisation of shipping moving, but they remain poorly understood, and their development risks getting bogged down in confusion and suspicion. With this statement, some of the most important companies in international shipping are committing to making book and claim systems transparent, well-aligned and environmentally credible for their customers and stakeholders. And they’re calling on other key players, like the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, to create a pathway for acceptance. It can’t happen soon enough.
Jesse Fahnestock, Project Director at Global Maritime Forum in his organisation’s official press release, 3 July 2023