One container voyage shows up in three inventories

One container voyage shows up in three inventories.

Three views of the same tonnes

The fuel burned on the voyage is the carrier's Scope 1: direct emissions from assets it operates.

Under the GHG Protocol, the buyer of the goods reports inbound shipping in Scope 3 category 4, upstream transportation and distribution.

The seller reports the same voyage in category 4 if it pays for the freight, or in category 9, downstream transportation and distribution, if it does not.

So a single voyage can appear in three companies' inventories at once, each for a legitimate reason. That is how value-chain accounting is designed: each company reports the emissions linked to its activities, and the same tonnes show up from different angles.

A common method for the tonnes

ISO 14083:2023 gives a common method for quantifying greenhouse gas emissions from transport operations, including shipping. When carrier, buyer and seller use the same method, their figures for the same voyage can be compared and reconciled rather than estimated three different ways.

Why it matters for cleaner fuel

This is why a carrier's switch to cleaner fuel matters to both sides of the trade. A lower-emission voyage reduces the carrier's Scope 1, and it reduces the transport emissions that buyer and seller report in Scope 3.

It is also why a reduction needs a clear record of who holds it. If three parties can see the same tonnes, three parties could also try to tell the same reduction as their own.

Recording who holds the reduction

When a cargo owner co-funds a lower-emission voyage, a serialized inset credit records which party holds the reduction. The serial number ties the credit to a specific verified reduction, and the record shows who holds it, so the same reduction is not sold or reported twice.

Insetting funds reductions inside the value chain; it is not offsetting. The voyage that gets cleaner is the one that actually carries the cargo.

Claim treatment depends on the applicable reporting framework.