Wednesday 2 June 2021

‘Insetting is better than offsetting to clean up shipping industry’

Insetting could be a new way to help decarbonise the shipping industry.

That is according to shipping company Klaveness’ ZeroLab, which has announced its first collaboration using insetting with GoodShipping.

‘Carbon insets’ are investments in projects to reduce emissions within companies' own supply chains.

Martin Prokosch, Head of ZeroLab, commented: “Insetting refers to the purchase of emission reduction credits within a company’s relevant value chain. It differs from offsetting in that it drives funding towards the technology we need to develop for shipping to decarbonise by 2050.

“Regular offsets blur the real cost of decarbonising shipping and are not at all contributing to making zero-emission shipping a reality”.

ZeroLab has stated that insetting will allow the shipping industry to invest in technologies that will make it greener, such as sustainable fuels.

It argues it will be more beneficial in the long run to offsetting, as it directly impacts the industry, which Martin Prokosch suggested “cannot wait until all other sectors have decarbonised”.