Port of Rotterdam Authority and GoodShipping launch ‘Switch to Zero’ campaign to reduce shipping industry carbon emissions
The Port of Rotterdam Authority and GoodShipping are conducting a joint campaign to inform companies of this concept so they can have part, or all of their sea freight transported via sustainable fuel, according to the Port of Rotterdam's release.
The aim of the ‘Switch to Zero’ campaign is to get some twenty sea freight shippers on board. Swinkels Family Brewers, known for brands including Bavaria and Cornet, and Dille & Kamille are the first to announce their participation in this campaign. They will have some or all of their containers shipped using sustainable fuel next year.
Insetting does not involve achieving carbon reductions through compensation (offsetting by planting trees, for example) but through shipping using sustainable fuel. Shippers often transport small numbers of containers on different vessels and can use insetting to purchase a certain amount of carbon reduction via GoodShipping. GoodShipping ensures that this is achieved by providing a vessel with sustainable fuel. This does not need to be the same vessel on which the containers are transported.
As part of their drive to promote CO2 savings in the logistics sector, GoodShipping and the Port of Rotterdam Authority aim to find some twenty new sea freight shipping companies that wish to use this service. The campaign makes it easy to get involved and make a concrete contribution to reducing carbon emissions. The aim is for joint vessel bunkering with these shippers to reduce the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere by 2023 tonnes. This is comparable to the amount of carbon released when transporting some 15,000 TEU containers between Rotterdam and Gothenburg.
The GoodShipping and Port of Rotterdam Authority campaign to recruit some twenty shippers starts on 5 December, but Dille & Kamille and Swinkels Family Brewers have already signed up. Participating companies can opt for carbon reduction of 75, 100 or 125 tonnes. GoodShipping and the Port Authority are giving a substantial discount per tonne carbon reduction to make it attractive for companies to find out more about this approach.
Shipping is responsible for approximately 3% of global carbon emissions but, at the same time, is a complex sector that fell outside the international climate agreements for a long time. The chain is also fragmented because companies often only ship just a few containers on a vessel.
Dutch company GoodShipping is a global market leader in insetting, the service for shippers and producers to enable sea-going freight to be transported using sustainable fuels instead of traditional fossil fuels. This form of insetting accelerates the energy transition in the transport sector. The initiative does not lie with shipping companies, but with freight owners. GoodShipping already works for companies including DHL, IKEA, BMW, Tony’s Chocolonely, Beiersdorf and Kings of Indigo. The fuel is produced from certified sustainable flows including frying oils and animal fats that are labelled as 100% waste and cannot be used in higher grade products.
These so-called advanced biofuels also do not compete with the food chain and production does not affect important ecosystems such as the rainforest. This is monitored by an independent sustainability board.
