NORDEN Becomes First Maritime Carrier To Deliver Verified Emissions Reductions
Our take
The maritime sector’s contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions is substantial, demanding innovative and validated solutions. NORDEN’s recent accomplishment – the first verified maritime emissions reduction delivered through the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) Book & Claim registry to Microsoft – represents a significant, albeit early, step towards addressing this challenge. This approach, while not without its critics, offers a potentially scalable mechanism for decarbonization, particularly as the industry navigates the complexities of transitioning to alternative fuels. It’s encouraging to see progress alongside other developments, such as the potential of onboard carbon capture to significantly reduce emissions Onboard Carbon Capture Can Cut Shipping Emissions By 30-70%, New Lloyd’s Register Report Shows and the increasing adoption of methanol dual-fuel vessels like the DP World London DP World Names Its First Methanol Dual-Fuel Vessel ‘DP World London’. The RSB Book & Claim system allows companies to purchase verified carbon credits generated from sustainable biomass projects, effectively offsetting their emissions. In NORDEN’s case, this means supporting sustainable biofuel production elsewhere, which is then attributed to their shipping operations.
The Book & Claim methodology has generated debate within the shipping and sustainability communities. Concerns revolve around ensuring the integrity of the claims and preventing “greenwashing,” where companies overstate their environmental achievements. The RSB's rigorous certification process, combined with Microsoft’s scrutiny as a purchaser, provides a layer of validation that is crucial for building trust in this approach. The broader context is one of rapidly evolving decarbonization strategies within the maritime industry. We’ve seen recognition of vital contributors to the sector UK Honours Maritime Heroes With 2026 Merchant Navy Medals For Outstanding Service, highlighting the human element involved in the industry's transformation. The success of NORDEN’s initiative hinges on demonstrating the long-term viability and transparency of the system, establishing a benchmark for others to follow. This is not a singular solution, but rather one tool in a broader toolkit that includes operational efficiency improvements, alternative fuels, and technological innovations.
The significance of this development extends beyond NORDEN and Microsoft. It validates the potential of the Book & Claim model as a pathway to achieving emissions reductions, particularly in sectors where direct emissions reductions are challenging to implement quickly. The maritime industry, with its complex global supply chains and reliance on fossil fuels, faces significant hurdles in transitioning to a low-carbon future. The RSB Book & Claim system offers a degree of flexibility, allowing companies to support sustainable projects even if they cannot directly control the source of those reductions. This is especially pertinent as the industry awaits the widespread availability and affordability of truly zero-emission fuels. The empirical data generated from this initial project will be invaluable in refining the methodology and addressing concerns about its effectiveness and integrity. Calibrated monitoring and reporting are essential to ensure the credibility of these claims and maintain public trust.
Ultimately, the NORDEN-Microsoft partnership underscores the growing demand for verified emissions reductions and the increasing willingness of corporations to invest in sustainable solutions. It exemplifies the integrated data ecosystem needed to track and validate environmental performance. While challenges remain in scaling up and ensuring the robustness of Book & Claim systems, this initiative demonstrates a crucial step towards realizing a more sustainable maritime sector. A key question moving forward is whether this model can be effectively integrated with emerging regulatory frameworks and carbon pricing mechanisms, creating a truly incentivized environment for decarbonization across the global shipping fleet.
Landmark pilot with Microsoft and RSB demonstrates how companies can reduce shipping emissions today without waiting for sustainable fuel availability on individual voyages.
NORDEN has delivered the first verified maritime emissions reductions through the RSB Book & Claim registry, in a landmark pilot completed in collaboration with Microsoft and the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB).
The transaction is the first time a maritime carrier has issued and delivered verified emissions reductions through the RSB Book & Claim registry. It demonstrates that companies can begin meaningfully reducing and accounting for their shipping emissions now without requiring sustainable fuels to be physically available on their specific voyages.
The solution is developed to enable NORDEN’s direct customers and clients in other industries which are dependent on marine transportation and seeking to decarbonise their supply chains to credibly invest in maritime decarbonisation.
Book & Claim allows companies to purchase verified emissions reductions linked to sustainable fuels, regardless of where those fuels are consumed within the industry. Building on the RSB Book & Claim registry’s established use in aviation, NORDEN, Microsoft and RSB have now jointly extended the RSB Book & Claim framework to maritime transport for the first time.
Anne Jensen, COO at NORDEN, commented: “For many companies, some of the most difficult emissions to address are those embedded deep within global supply chains, where they often have little visibility or direct influence over how goods are transported.
This transaction demonstrates how Book & Claim can help bridge that gap. By enabling companies to invest in verified emissions reductions from maritime transport, regardless of where the fuel is used or where they sit in the value chain, we can help accelerate decarbonisation across industries.”
“Decarbonising supply chains requires solutions that are both credible and scalable. This collaboration with NORDEN and RSB shows how Book & Claim can help accelerate progress in sectors where change is otherwise complex and demonstrates that companies don’t need to wait to start reducing their shipping emissions in a verified and meaningful way,” said Bella Horstmann, Senior Manager, Market Development, Microsoft.
“Developing market-enabling tools for decarbonisation across hard-to-abate sectors is a priority for RSB and extending the RSB Book & Claim framework to maritime transport is a direct response to that goal. This collaboration with NORDEN and Microsoft marks a significant milestone in making that a reality. NORDEN’s certification is exactly the kind of collaboration that will open this solution to the wider shipping industry,” said Max Eichelbaum, Director – Digitisation and Book & Claim.
To enable the book and claim maritime transaction, NORDEN became the first maritime operator to obtain RSB Book & Claim trader certification, a prerequisite for issuing and selling verified emissions reductions via RSB’s Book & Claim registry. The certification was developed in close collaboration with RSB, which extended its existing aviation framework to cover maritime transport and carriers.
Microsoft is the first company globally to use Book & Claim for shipping emissions through the RSB registry, as part of its broader efforts to address value chain emissions.
Following this pilot, RSB will update its RSB Procedure for Book and Claim Chain of Custody to enable broader adoption of Book & Claim across the maritime industry. NORDEN will continue working with customers and partners to scale this solution with the goal of making verified emissions reductions a standard offering in ocean transport.
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