Global book & claim platform ‘Katalist’ supports cargo owners and forwarders with verified emission reduction of shipping

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Until recently, as cargo owner or forwarder, you had hardly any direct influence on the carbon footprint of your ocean transport services. However, times have changed. As of 14 November, a new book & claim system called ‘Katalist’ is available for the shipping industry.

‘The basic principle of Carbon Insetting, particularly through a book & claim system, is that it enables the decarbonization of shipping without requiring a direct physical link between the vessel transporting your cargo and the ship using sustainable fuel. Instead, the environmental benefits of using sustainable fuel are allocated to your cargo even if the specific vessel isn’t fuelled sustainably, thereby supporting a broader shift towards low-carbon shipping,’ says Frederik Jacobsen, from the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping (MMMCZCS).

What is carbon insetting?

The simplest way to explain the difference between carbon insetting and carbon offsetting is by looking at the aviation industry. When booking a flight, you can choose to pay extra to offset your CO₂ emissions by supporting projects that promise to remove an equivalent amount of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from the atmosphere, such as tree planting. This is offsetting.

Alternatively, you can pay a premium to ensure that the amount of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) equivalent to your flight’s emissions is used, even if it’s on a different aircraft. This is insetting. The key difference is that insetting directly supports a sustainable transition within the sector itself, while offsetting does not.

In container logistics, carbon insetting works similarly: the GHG emissions from transporting your cargo from A to B are balanced by using the necessary equivalent of sustainable fuel, even if it's on a separate vessel. This approach fosters decarbonization within the shipping industry itself.

The main advantages of carbon insetting using book & claim as compared to offsetting:

• It gives cargo owners, forwarders, ship owners and operators an opportunity to make their activities more sustainable. Even without doing business in the same (physical) supply chain, they can reduce the carbon footprint of their own activities and the sector in general.
• Cargo owners and forwarders can start very quickly and long-term commitments are not a prerequisite.
• Cargo owners and forwarders can start with insetting without their shipping lines or service providers having to participate, or without the necessity to have low-carbon fuels available in the area where their shipments take place. It helps to make the shipping business more sustainable as it connects supply and demand  for alternative fuels and green shipping.
• Book & claim is a more effective mechanism than offsetting to decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors such as shipping, since it channels the willingness to pay from customers within the value chain, pulling the levers to accelerate the adoption of low and zero emission fuels.
• Ship owners and operators don’t depend on their direct customers to share the cost of decarbonizing their operations.
• An independent third party can audit the data, so book & claim is verifiable and reliable.

Ensuring credibility and standardization

MMMCZCS and RMI recently launched a registry to operate the world’s first book & claim system dedicated to the maritime industry. ‘The registry along with set rules and standards how companies can use this registry make Katalist unique,’ Frederik Jacobsen explains. ‘Shipping lines will upload verified data for voyages that have used a sustainable fuel to the registry. This verification will be done by an independent third party to ensure the credibility of information as this is a cornerstone of book & claim.’ Hereby, cargo owners can report verified emission reduction claims for their ocean transports.

‘This book & claim system aims to become a transparent and reliable platform that enables claiming verified emission reduction from ocean transport services. Furthermore, it embraces the global and diverse nature of international shipping by becoming available to almost any type of vessel. Our methodology is fuel agnostic: any sustainable marine fuel can be booked,’ Frederik Jacobsen adds. ‘We’ve had a high level of engagement from the companies helping us design this system, and we are excited to offer a new way for companies to immediately and proactively decarbonize the maritime industry.’

‘The Port of Rotterdam aims to be a front runner in the energy transition, including decarbonizing the shipping industry,’ says Steven Jan van Hengel, responsible for sustainable shipping at the Port of Rotterdam Authority. ‘We have participated in discussions about the set-up of the Katalist framework and we fully support it. Rotterdam is working hard on making low carbon fuels available for shipping lines. This includes the availability of fuels as well as regulations for bunkering. Biofuels are already bunkered on a large scale in the port today. As for LNG and methanol, we expect these insetting schemes to result in a higher demand for sustainable fuels and therefore play a substantial role in decarbonizing shipping.’

In the past, the Port of Rotterdam Authority has taken several initiatives to promote insetting, including the ‘Switch to Zero’ campaign together with GoodShipping.

About Katalist

Katalist has been set up by the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping (MMMCZCS) and RMI (formerly known as Rocky Mountain Institute). MMMCZCS operates as a not-for-profit organization, independently from the shipping giant Mærsk. They have partnered with key stakeholders in the sector, including the Port of Rotterdam Authority, to set up Katalist and make sure the system works for the industry.