MIAMI- The commercial adoption of zero-emission delivery services is being urged by several fashion brands and retailers, including Amazon, Patagonia, Ikea, and Levi Strauss.
The 600,000 twenty-foot containers (TEUs) are to be provided by shipping companies over three years, according to the request from the Zero Emission Maritime Buyers Alliance (ZEMBA).
To speed up the decarbonization of maritime commerce, ZEMBA was founded in March of this year by the nonprofit The Aspen Institute, Amazon, Patagonia, and coffee company Tchibo.
It has gathered more than 20 members for its inaugural tender process, including companies like Brooks Running, New Balance, Nike, Lululemon, and Sport-Thieme, to request quotes for shipping services from various carriers or groups.
ZEMBA claims that by participating in the tender, it will assist its member companies in lowering their carbon emissions by about a million metric tonnes.
Adam Baker, vice president of worldwide transportation at Amazon, explained the decision to issue the tender, stating that “Maritime shipping is an essential service for global companies like Amazon, and we urgently need this sector to make clean fuel investments to reach our climate goals.”
According to ZEMBA, it will take into account bids that satisfy a variety of requirements, such as providing enough capacity to meet the combined demand of 600,000+ TEUs from its members over a distance of 6,000 nautical miles over three years, as well as access to fuels that offer GHG emission reductions of at least 90% compared to conventional fossil fuels on a lifecycle basis.
The winning bidder will also be required to provide third-party verification of the emissions reductions that ZEMBA members can claim, and transparent fuel lifecycle emissions to support emission reduction claims are also needed.
“This request for proposals is a significant milestone toward a zero-emission maritime future,” said Ingrid Irigoyen, president and CEO of ZEMBA.
We are constructing the business case for a boom in investment in zero-emission maritime solutions, including novel fuels and technologies that are not yet commercially available, with over 20 climate-leading companies participating in ZEMBA’s initial tender process, and more to follow.
