“We never treated book-and-claim as a workaround. For us it is the bridge that channels investment into cleaner fuels and trucks while the market catches up,” says Anne Shudy Palmer, Director of Sustainability at Green Worldwide Shipping. “Now that SBTi recognizes these instruments, that bridge is part of the official route to net zero, and our clients are already using it.”
On June 11, 2026, the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) published the Corporate Net-Zero Standard Version 2.0 (CNZS V2). The update recognizes high-integrity market instruments as legitimate tools for implementing science-based targets. That list includes environmental attribute certificates (EACs) from book-and-claim systems.
For freight buyers, this matters directly. Two programs stand out: the Zero Emission Maritime Buyers Alliance (ZEMBA) and GMA Trucking. Now companies with validated science-based targets can use these and other high-integrity market instruments to support their target implementation, with no target resubmission required. Green Worldwide Shipping has anticipated and worked toward this moment since first joining ZEMBA in 2023.
WHAT CHANGED IN THE SBTI CORPORATE NET-ZERO STANDARD V2
The SBTi released CNZS V2 after two public consultations and a pilot test. The standard signals a shift from ambition to implementation. Most importantly for freight decarbonization, it recognizes market-based instruments as tools for putting science-based targets into practice. The standard also references the eligibility of EACs from book-and-claim systems directly.
CNZS V2 additionally acknowledges that many hard-to-abate sectors face real structural barriers to direct decarbonization. In response, it creates a pathway for value chain associated interventions. The standard refers to these as “sector-level actions.” Maritime shipping and heavy-duty trucking both sit squarely in this category. Clean-energy services in these sectors are not yet widely available.
Crucially, companies that already hold validated science-based targets can use these approaches today. They do not need to resubmit their targets or wait for the next target cycle. As a result, freight buyers gain a near-term route to act on Scope 3 transportation emissions.
WHY THIS MATTERS FOR GREEN WORLDWIDE SHIPPING
Green Worldwide Shipping joined both ZEMBA and the GMA Trucking buyers alliance early. These memberships give clients credible pathways for reducing transportation emissions. As a freight forwarder and customs broker, Green moves cargo across ocean, air, and road; each mode carries a different decarbonization challenge. Through these alliances, Green helps channel demand and financing toward the cleaner fuels and vehicles the freight industry needs, and reduces their own Scope 3 transport emissions through market-based measures.
On the ocean side, the company’s sustainable maritime fuel program puts ZEMBA participation to work for clients. Shippers can also move less-than-container-load freight through GreenBox zero-emission consolidations. Both options turn the new standard into a practical route for cutting Scope 3 emissions.
For clients pursuing Scope 3 targets, the update turns participation in these programs into a clear contribution toward target implementation. “We never treated book-and-claim as a workaround. For us it is the bridge that channels investment into cleaner fuels and trucks while the market catches up,” says Anne Shudy Palmer, Director of Sustainability at Green Worldwide Shipping. “Now that SBTi recognizes these instruments, that bridge is part of the official route to net zero, and our clients are already using it.”
Green Worldwide also continues to support clients with supply chain emissions visibility through their proprietary GreenCheck ESG Management platform. With it, shippers can track the freight footprint behind their products and even create proactive mitigation plans for future shipments. Together, these efforts give customers practical tools for acting on transportation emissions across their value chains.
HOW BOOK-AND-CLAIM CERTIFICATES WORK IN FREIGHT
Book-and-claim systems separate the physical movement of freight from the environmental attributes tied to cleaner fuels and vehicles. Because a company rarely controls when or where zero-emission shipping is available, this decoupling matters. In practice, a freight buyer can fund a verified emissions reduction in its sector. That holds true even when its own cargo never rides a zero-emission vessel or truck. The buyer then claims that reduction through a tracked certificate.
This model already operates across several freight sectors. For maritime shipping, ZEMBA members use Katalist to claim verified reductions. Katalist is the first nonprofit maritime book-and-claim system. For road freight, GMA Trucking applies the same logic to heavy-duty transport. Members purchase verified attributes from zero-emission trucking services. Similarly, the Sustainable Aviation Buyers Alliance (SABA) uses the approach for aviation fuel.
Each certificate represents a verified, in-sector investment rather than a traditional offset. Therefore, the funding flows directly toward cleaner fuels, vehicles, and infrastructure in the freight industry itself.
THE ROLE OF GMA AND THE AIM PLATFORM
The Center for Green Market Activation (GMA) is a US-based nonprofit. It coordinates these buyers alliances and serves as a technical partner to ZEMBA. Beyond running the trucking program, GMA also leads the Advanced and Indirect Mitigation (AIM) Platform. The platform gives companies a detailed framework for accounting and reporting on decarbonization interventions.
Notably, the integrity criteria that CNZS V2 sets for sector-level actions align closely with the AIM Standard and Guidance. In most cases, the AIM Standard provides more detail than the SBTi standard itself. That extra detail helps companies meet the new requirements. The AIM team engaged with SBTi staff during the drafting of CNZS. As a result, the two frameworks fit together by design. GMA and SBTi are now developing interoperability guidance to clarify how AIM and CNZS V2 fit alongside each other.
WHAT COMES NEXT
The SBTi has said additional guidance is forthcoming. It will include details on the public claims a company can make based on the tools it uses. That nuance still matters. Even so, the central change is already in effect: CNZS V2 now clarifies what counts toward target implementation.
Meanwhile, GMA will keep developing AIM interoperability guidance alongside SBTi as further information arrives. The GHG Protocol is also advancing its forthcoming Actions and Market Instruments (AMI) Standard. That standard should support reporting of the same actions SBTi now recognizes.
Going forward, Green Worldwide Shipping will continue tracking these developments and sharing what they mean for customers and international partners.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
CAN COMPANIES USE BOOK-AND-CLAIM CERTIFICATES TO MEET SCIENCE-BASED TARGETS?
Yes. CNZS V2 recognizes high-integrity market instruments as tools for implementing science-based targets. That list includes EACs from book-and-claim systems, subject to the standard’s integrity criteria.
DO COMPANIES NEED TO RESUBMIT THEIR TARGETS?
No. Companies that already hold validated science-based targets can use these approaches today. They do not need to resubmit targets or wait for the next target cycle.
WHAT IS ZEMBA?
The Zero Emission Maritime Buyers Alliance (ZEMBA) is a buyers group that aggregates demand for zero-emission ocean shipping. Members use a book-and-claim system and the Katalist registry to claim verified emissions reductions from sustainable marine fuel.
WHAT IS GMA TRUCKING?
GMA Trucking is a buyers alliance from the Center for Green Market Activation. It applies book-and-claim to heavy-duty road freight. Members purchase verified attributes from zero-emission trucking services to support decarbonization of the sector.
WHAT IS THE AIM PLATFORM?
GMA leads the Advanced and Indirect Mitigation (AIM) Platform. It gives companies a framework for accounting and reporting on decarbonization interventions. Its standard aligns with the integrity criteria in CNZS V2.
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