Braemar launches digital platform to offset vessel and cargo emissions

Braemar, expert advisors in shipping investment, chartering, and risk management, today announces the launch of Braemar Offset, a digital platform that enables its clients to reduce their carbon footprint in a measurable, effective and efficient way. Science-based emission reductions are now a baseline expectation for maritime companies, and carbon offsetting – a decarbonising activity to compensate for unavoidable emissions elsewhere, which is one of the tools that shipping will utilise to achieve net zero.

Braemar Offset provides a diverse and regularly replenished portfolio of offset projects to ensure certainty of supply. Only projects that are transparent, environmentally robust, verified and vetted by sustainability experts are included. The projects include sustainable agroforestry on the Guatemalan conservation coast, protecting habitats for critically endangered species in Indonesia, and helping to reduce air pollution in Jiangxi province in China.

Carbon offsets are particularly important for companies that have set net zero targets; work in sectors that face strong end user or political pressure; or who are committed to going above and beyond current IMO ambitions. Primarily this is because a strong ESG proposition helps companies address new markets and expand into existing ones, but it also enhances top-line growth through the premiums that more sustainable services command, in a similar way to the premium that ‘eco’ vessels have in the charter market today.

Tris Simmonds, Braemar’s COO, commented, “Shareholders, financiers, and customers now frequently link ESG factors to a company’s long-term viability. Shipping companies that underperform in this area increasingly find it harder to access capital, to recruit and retain staff, and endure a growing regulatory burden. Braemar Offset is the first step in our plans to provide an end-to-end bespoke sustainability solution for our clients. We’ve already integrated it with Braemar Screen, and we look forward to announcing soon how we’ll be further enhancing our sustainability offering.”

David Holland, Associate Director at Braemar, commented, “As a Sale and Purchase shipbroker there are few subjects more important right now than ESG factors. Minimising future emissions is important for EEXI and CII, but retrofits or switching to new fuels won’t completely neutralise unavoidable emissions or help capture historical emissions. Many of the shipowners I speak with see carbon offsetting as a necessary supplement to their emissions reduction strategy.”

Jack Richards, Associate Director at Braemar, commented, “We are already seeing clauses in charterparties that require the capture of emissions data. The next logical step will be clauses which specify a voyage is to be carbon neutral. While the long-term emphasis must of course be on harnessing new technologies and alternative fuels as our industry navigates its way towards a greener and more sustainable future, carbon offsetting offers the opportunity to make an immediate positive impact.”