INSIGHT: Glander to Promote Insetting Through Smart Freight Centre Membership

'Collective responsibility is the key', according to Glander's new fuels advisor Emmanuel Charvier. Image Credit: Glander International Bunkering

Glander International Bunkering's Geneva office is using its membership of the Smart Freight Centre to promote the use of carbon insetting in the shipping industry.

Our Geneva office became a member of the non-profit organization in early June, seeking to work with its network and the Sustainable Freight Buyers Alliance to further maritime decarbonization.

The organization is dedicated to launching collective efforts to accelerate decarbonization within the freight transport industry.

Emmanuel Charvier, New Fuels Advisor in Geneva, said, "Glander International Bunkering will be adding our voice to discussions around the procurement of zero-emission logistics and how to navigate the regulatory landscape. We will also be involved in SFC projects and training to reduce the challenges and complexities of GHG reduction."

He added, "Collective responsibility is the key to driving collective action for emissions reduction."

Companies are under increasing pressure to reduce CO2 emissions within their supply chains, even those generated outside their direct operations. Simultaneously, the recent inclusion of shipping in the EU ETS requires the maritime transportation sector to limit emissions from ships.

Insetting can address both these challenges by effectively connecting shippers and carriers. Cargo owners seeking to reduce their scope 3 GHG emissions can use insetting as an opportunity to meet their own environmental objectives and to help invest in shipping's decarbonization.

The way it works is by bringing together cargo owners that have emissions reduction targets, with shipowners starting to use new fuels within their own fleets. By putting up part of the cost of these more expensive new fuels, cargo owners can claim the environmental benefits to their own companies and demonstrate reductions in scope 3 emissions to their customers.

Charvier said, "That's where we are putting our efforts so this eventually becomes a norm until we reach net-zero in shipping."

The carbon insetting system is already widely in use among the leading container lines and is likely to be rolled out further across more cargo shipping segments in the coming years. Projects of this type will be a transformative early step in cutting the shipping industry's GHG emissions to zero.