Driving air freight decarbonization with Flexport

Flexport, a technology-driven logistics platform, has partnered with Chooose to help its customers advance their efforts to reduce air freight emissions by supporting sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Recognizing aviation as a carbon-intensive transportation sector, Flexport aims to help accelerate the decarbonization of logistics and transportation, and to empower clients to take action.

Customers can purchase SAF environmental attributes directly on the Flexport Platform through a seamless in-app experience. This integration provides an easy way for air freight shippers to incorporate climate action into their daily operations and to collaborate across the value chain, ultimately helping to reduce lifecycle carbon emissions of aviation.

Businesses like outdoor apparel brand Cotopaxi are leveraging this integration to help scale the use of SAF. The White House has also recognized this partnership as an industry-leading initiative driving sustainability forward.

Challenge: Increasing the accessibility of SAF

1. A practical pathway for air freight customers to support SAF
2. Access to SAF environmental attributes to help address Scope 3 emissions
3. Adoption of SAF and demonstration of demand

As a part of Flexport.org’s mission to support clients in making a positive social and environmental impact, the sustainability team sought a practical yet scalable way for air freight customers to support reducing lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions — adding to Flexport’s existing suite of climate impact and technology solutions.

SAF is a lower-carbon alternative to conventional jet fuel and is considered one of the most viable tools available for decarbonizing aviation today. Despite its crucial role, SAF adoption has been slow, currently accounting for less than 1% of jet fuel used globally. Overcoming this challenge requires dramatically scaling the production and use of SAF.

The sale of SAF environmental attributes — enabled by accessible technology solutions and broader stakeholder engagement across the value chain — can support this objective by both helping to cover the cost of and demonstrating demand for SAF from a broader group of stakeholders.

Many companies that rely on aviation do not have direct access to or responsibility for physical fuel — making it essentially impossible for them to make a decision about whether or not to fly or to ship goods on physical SAF. There are, however, ways for them to contribute meaningfully to the advancement of SAF, as well as to “claim” the emissions benefits of its use.

Leveraging the book and claim system

Corporations can purchase the environmental attributes (i.e., the carbon reduction impact) associated with a given amount of unblended SAF. The sale of these environmental attributes provides a buyer with a claim to the climate benefit associated with the purchased amount of SAF while simultaneously helping to cover the cost difference between SAF and conventional fuels.

More broadly, after the environmental attributes associated with a particular SAF supply have been established and verified, those environmental attributes can be tracked, sold, and claimed separately from the physical fuel in what is known as a book and claim system. Put differently, book and claim allows one to decouple the environmental benefits from the physical product and to transfer them separately — without the buyer needing to be connected with the physical supply chain. This enables entities without physical access to SAF to help accelerate the nascent industry, as well as make emission reduction claims associated with a given amount of fuel. When Flexport's customers support SAF through this program, they do so via a book and claim system.

Solution: A single, in-app experience

Customers simply log into the Flexport Platform to view their emissions reports and SAF options. In a single click, customers can easily purchase SAF environmental attributes, which can then be claimed as reductions against their Scope 3 emissions.

• Book and claim model: Using this chain of custody model, customers can leverage the environmental benefits associated with SAF even if the physical fuel isn’t directly used in their shipments. This system ensures the environmental attributes are tracked and claimed, promoting transparency and broader adoption of SAF.
• Comprehensive dashboard: Accessible via Flexport’s Sustainability Dashboard, users can track their SAF purchases, monitor their cumulative impact over time, and access other services like emissions estimates for their freight shipments.

Through this integration and a book & claim chain of custody model, Flexport customers can now support the use of lower-carbon alternative fuel across air freight transport — regardless of trade lane or geography.

Results: Scaling SAF support

This partnership has already yielded impressive results:

• Customer adoption: Leading brands like Cotopaxi, an outdoor apparel retailer and 501c3 non-profit organization, have embraced the SAF program, leveraging it as part of their broader journey towards their net-zero goals.
  
  "Urgently reducing our transportation emissions across our supply chain remains crucial if we're to realize our aggressive net zero reduction plan. We are thrilled to use SAF to decrease the footprint from our air shipments with the support of Flexport," stated Annie Angle, Vice President of Impact and Sustainability at Cotopaxi.
  
• White House recognition: The initiative has been formally recognized by the White House as a key example of private sector innovation in aviation decarbonization.
• Increased accessibility: The book and claim model makes SAF more accessible to a broader range of stakeholders, encouraging more companies to participate in decarbonization efforts.

Conclusion: Decarbonization of air freight

By offering an accessible pathway to purchasing SAF environmental attributes, Flexport empowers its customers to contribute to more sustainable air transport. This initiative not only aligns with broader global aviation goals, but also sets a precedent for how technology and innovation can drive meaningful climate action in the aviation industry.