In the coZEV 2040 Ambition Statement, climate-leading cargo owners set an ambition to only use ZE shipping by 2040. Among the challenges to transitioning the maritime sector to ZE shipping, actors across the value chain are concerned about the risk involved in investing in new fuels and technologies, unsure if end customers (cargo owners) will support new ZE service offerings.

Cargo owners can help build confidence among maritime stakeholders by addressing the need for sufficient committed demand to kickstart the transition and help anchor the business case for a new ZE shipping value chain. That being said, cargo owners cannot be expected to bear the cost of this transition alone, and need a purpose built mechanism to enable sharing of risk and cost across the value chain. This mechanism should not only combine enough committed ZE demand from cargo owners to build supplier confidence in investment, it should also foster competition among suppliers to encourage economic viability, and give confidence to policy makers to support a budding ZE market.

To meet this need, the Aspen Institute alongside co-founders Amazon, Patagonia, and Tchibo formed the Zero Emission Maritime Buyers Alliance (ZEMBA). As a non-profit organization and initiative of Cargo Owners for Zero Emissions Vessels (coZEV), the mission of ZEMBA is to enable companies to access zero-emission shipping solutions that are not currently available.

Through ZEMBA, freight buyers will accelerate the commercial deployment of zero-emission shipping, enable economies of scale, and help minimize maritime emissions. By working together, ZEMBA members will offer committed demand to build confidence among investors, carriers, ship owners, and producers of zero-emission fuels and renewable energy.

ZEMBA plans to issue a Request for Proposal (RfP) in 2023 to forward procure maritime shipping services that achieve zero or near-zero emissions on a lifecycle basis, for all greenhouse gases, not limited to carbon dioxide. The delivery of these services will be expected to start in 2025 or 2026. Freight buyers are invited to join ZEMBA as a way to access zero-emission shipping. Shipping lines, in partnership with their fuel suppliers, are encouraged to prepare to participate in the RfP and seize the opportunity to lead, innovate, and shape the future of the maritime shipping industry. As ZEMBA membership grows in the coming years, ZEMBA plans to run similar tenders with larger volumes of demand until zero-emission shipping becomes mainstream in the industry.