DHL Express and World Energy, a leading producer of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), have entered into a seven-year strategic agreement that runs through 2030, focusing on the decarbonization of aviation logistics. The deal is among the longest and most extensive SAF certificate (SAFc) agreements in the aviation sector to date.
Under the terms of the agreement, DHL Express will purchase approximately 668 million liters of SAF via SAFc. This deal is anticipated to offset about 1.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions throughout the aviation fuel lifecycle. To put this into context, the emission reduction is tantamount to rendering 77,000 annual aircraft movements of DHL Express in the Americas carbon-neutral for an entire year.
John Pearson, CEO of DHL Express, commented, “This agreement marks a significant step toward diminishing our carbon footprint and driving a more sustainable future in aviation logistics. The goal is to set an example and encourage more suppliers to speed up the industry-wide acceptance and production of SAF.”
Gene Gebolys, CEO of World Energy, added, “Decarbonizing sectors that are hard to abate needs a unified effort across the value chain. Our partnership with DHL will be instrumental in enabling DHL to achieve their ambitious climate targets.”
Book & Claim Approach for Transparency
The deal adopts a “Book & Claim” chain of custody model to ensure the transparency and accountability of SAFc. This model facilitates the accurate tracking and verification of emission reductions associated with each credit by a third-party. DHL Express can, therefore, purchase SAFc, apply the resulting emission reductions, and extend these environmental benefits to its customers via its GoGreen Plus service.
The agreement stipulates that all SAFc purchased by DHL will meet stringent sustainability standards set by the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB). An independent registry will trace all volumes to ensure the traceability of SAFc claims. The SAF will be supplied to airports in the Los Angeles area, in proximity to World Energy's production facility in Paramount, California, further optimizing logistical costs and emissions.
The strategic agreement complements DHL Group's Sustainability Roadmap, which targets reducing the Group's annual greenhouse gas emissions to below 29 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent by 2030 across scopes 1, 2, and 3.
