Buyers and end-users globally are increasingly demanding sustainable products and materials but cannot always access them via their existing supply chain network. This is the case, for example, for sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), which is currently produced and supplied in only a few countries and airports – meaning that it is often out of reach for the growing number of customers globally (including not only airlines, but their corporate customers too who may wish to decrease their emissions from business travel).
In aviation, book and claim is a solution that enables airlines to purchase SAF without being geographically connected to a supply site, and to further transfer its sustainability attributes to their corporate partners. Technically speaking, book and claim is a chain of custody model that allows to ‘de-couple’ specific attributes, like for example the environmental benefits, from the physical product and to transfer them separately via a dedicated registry in the form of a Book & Claim Unit. This approach has been already successfully implemented in the renewable electricity sector (see here).
Ensuring that there is full traceability and no risk of double counting is absolutely vital to maintain credibility and trust in the process. This means that producers and customers should be using a system that is managed by an independent and trusted third party and is subject to regular independent audits. In close collaboration with stakeholders and industry experts, RSB has developed a book and claim certification approach that we are currently piloting.
