September 10, 2024
Decarbonizing complex supply chains requires innovation and deep collaboration to achieve common objectives. Building momentum to support the emergence and scaling of critical market-based tools for decarbonizing heavy transport, the Book and Claim Community is expanding its Governing Board, adding experienced company practitioners and key NGO allies as strategic partners in its second year.
New board members Meta, Mitsui O.S.K Lines (MOL), NORDEN, and UPS join founding board members Amazon, Deloitte Global, DHL Group, Microsoft, Shell, and World Energy, bringing additional experience and energy into this existing group of leaders. The Center for Green Market Activation (GMA), the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification system (ISCC), and the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) also join the effort as strategic partners, strengthening community alignment between key organizations working on the standards, frameworks, and tools that facilitate credible uptake of book and claim systems. These organizations collectively support and bring crucial expertise to this Community to allow all interested stakeholders to come together and advance high-quality book and claim in aviation, maritime shipping, trucking, and beyond.
“NORDEN is delighted to see our Book & Claim experts Louise Dobler and William Boatwright joining the Book & Claim Community’s governing board, representing NORDEN and the wider shipping sector. Carbon insetting is an instrumental tool in accelerating the uptake of low carbon fuels to decarbonise global supply chains. By joining the Book & Claim Community, NORDEN will alongside other industry leading members be able to further develop the concept and ensure that the proper guardrails are put in place in the continued maturing of a democratised and robust industrywide Book & Claim ecosystem. We are pleased to see the Book & Claim community taking a leading role in driving this agenda.”
– Norden
The Community’s second year kicks off at a key moment as the voluntary book and claim chain of custody approach gains momentum across the decarbonization landscape. The need for companies to collaborate to make real, verifiable, in-value chain impact is increasingly apparent. In the last year alone, pilots are maturing into true book and claim systems in aviation and maritime shipping, more companies are procuring and going public with their investments in low-emission fuels and services via book and claim, new product offerings have emerged, and many logistics operators are incorporating a high-quality market-based approach into their transportation emission footprint strategy.
“We at DHL Group firmly believe in the crucial role of high-integrity book & claim systems in decarbonizing logistics services by joining forces with carriers, forwarders, and shippers. Accordingly, we are honored and look forward to continuing our collaboration with our Book & Claim Community partners to further enhance and uphold common principles for book & claim systems that are backed by real emission reductions in logistics.”
– Dr. Andreas Muendel, SVP Strategy & Operations Programs, Head of Clean Operations, DHL Group
“Chain of Custody models, including mass balance and book & claim, could unlock significant new demand for low carbon solutions and enable investment decisions for products requiring scale, or that do not yet have dedicated infrastructure.“
– Tonya Donaldson, Book and Claim Program Manager, Shell Low Carbon Solutions
As interest in decarbonizing transportation surges, so does the need for a balanced, collaborative, and intentional approach aimed at meeting this ambition. Beginning in 2023, Smart Freight Centre (SFC) partnered with RMI—serving as co-chairs of the Secretariat—to connect, support, and catalyze efforts towards the development of a high-integrity, unified book and claim chain of custody framework for transport decarbonization. Throughout the first year, over 260 organizations engaged with this work, connecting via the Community’s formal convenings, newsletters, or directly with the Secretariat.
Culminating this first year of work, and generating momentum towards year two, is the release of Principles and Best Practices for Book and Claim Systems in Heavy Transport in June. This document is the result of six months of collaboration with a diverse group of expert stakeholders across the value chain—12 organizations signed on as core contributors, and an additional 30 organizations signed on in support of the principles and best practices since publication.
“Voluntary purchases help accelerate investments in climate solutions for hard to abate industries. The Book & Claim Community’s Principles give corporate buyers the confidence they need to implement best practices now, with an eye towards future integration with greenhouse gas frameworks.”
– Adam Klauber, VP Sustainability and Digital Supply Chain, World Energy
“In the maritime industry, which is “hard to abate,” a transparent and widely accepted book and claim mechanism is extremely effective. It enables the first movers of decarbonization to introduce decarbonized fuels, and it also helps leading-edge customers who want to invest in decarbonization of their value chain to access such opportunity. I express my respect for the significant role and value that the Book and Claim Community has played, and MOL is pleased to be able to contribute to the development of this mechanism as a board member. “
– Tatsuro Watanabe, Chief Sustainability Officer, MOL
The Book and Claim Community’s work in cultivating an aligned and connected ecosystem for transport applications of book and claim is critical in demonstrating how similar applications in other sectors can develop and enable impact. The Community and the transportation sector as a whole, benefits from close coordination with related efforts.
“The Center for Green Market Activation is pleased to be part of this cross-sectoral collaboration alongside so many respected partners and stakeholder organizations. Initiatives like the Book and Claim Community are key to driving towards standardization of book-and-claim systems and ensuring credibility of these essential tools for companies working to decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors.”
– Kim Carnahan, CEO, Center for Green Market Activation
Recent alignment and ‘wins’ buoy the Community’s efforts, but longer-term objectives continue to define the Community’s priorities, for instance, securing the ability to report transportation decarbonization via high-quality book and claim in emissions disclosure and towards voluntary targets. The Community’s continuing work plays a critical role in the creation of robust book and claim systems, ensuring stakeholders are ready to address the sector’s steep decarbonization challenge with credible and consistent market-based tools.
To contact the Secretariat, email: Secretariat@BookandclaimCommunity.org
Sign up for the newsletter here.
Read past newsletters and learn more about Book and Claim here.
Read our latest publication Principles and Best Practices for Book and Claim in Heavy Transport here.
Secretariat
RMI is an independent nonprofit founded in 1982 that transforms global energy systems through market-driven solutions to align with a 1.5°C future and secure a clean, prosperous, zero-carbon future for all. We work in the world’s most critical geographies and engage businesses, policymakers, communities, and NGOs to identify and scale energy system interventions that will cut greenhouse gas emissions at least 50 percent by 2030. RMI has offices in Basalt and Boulder, Colorado; New York City; Oakland, California; Washington, DC; and Beijing.
Smart Freight Centre is an international non-profit organization focused on reducing greenhouse gas emission from freight transportation. Our goal is to guide the global logistics industry to track and reduce its GHG emissions by 1 billion tonnes by 2030 and reach zero emissions by 2050 or earlier. We collaborate with our global partners to quantify impacts, identify solutions, and advocate logistics decarbonization strategies. Together, we help solve the business challenges behind reducing freight emissions and impact the industry standards.