Logistics giant DHL Express announced today a new strategic partnership with UK-based international bank Standard Chartered to co-invest in Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) through DHL’s GoGreen Plus service, enabling Standard Chartered to balance its upstream logistics emissions with carbon credits.

DHL’s GoGreen service provides shippers with the option of climate-neutral shipping through investments in internationally recognized climate protection projects to offset emissions generated during transport. GoGreen Plus aims to offer real emissions reductions through carbon “insetting,” enabling shippers to replace conventional fossil fuels with sustainable fuels or clean technologies, such as SAF.

According to Standard Chartered, the new partnership forms part of the bank’s initiatives to innovate with partners to make its supply chain more sustainable, by supporting DHL in scaling the use of SAF, which can reduce the lifecycle emissions of aviation fuel by as much as 80%. Standard Chartered expects to see its own related emissions reduced by up to 30% in year one of the partnership, with an expected incremental 7% reduction year-on-year from 2025, saving more than an estimated 3,750 tonnes of CO2 by 2030. Standard Chartered has committed to net zero in its own operations by 2025 and in its financed emissions by 2050.

Khuresh Faizullabhoy, Managing Director & Chief Operating Officer, Trade at Standard Chartered said:

“As a leading provider of trade finance, our customers entrust us to handle their crucial trade & shipping documents to safeguard their business interests and ensure seamless transactional delivery. Whilst the digitization of trade documentation is progressing, through this agreement to scale the use of SAF with our logistics partner DHL Express, we will jointly drive down emissions that would otherwise be generated from this essential service. This is a win-win for our customers and in line with our own commitment to delivering net zero across Standard Chartered.”

Scaling the use of sustainable aviation fuels forms a significant part of DHL’s Sustainability Roadmap. Launched in 2021, the roadmap includes a series of decarbonization and environmental sustainability commitments encompassing the introduction of more ambitious climate targets and linking executive compensation to ESG goals. DHL’s targets include using at least 30% of SAF blending for all air transport by 2030.

Yung C. Ooi, Senior Vice President for Commercial, Asia Pacific, DHL Express said:

“The partnership between Standard Chartered and DHL has been going strong for more than two decades. They were the first bank to adopt our GoGreen  service in 2011 and are now working with us to make international express shipping more sustainable. The fact that we are offering the GoGreen Plus service through the use of SAF in our international network lays the foundation for this. We hope this agreement will inspire other companies to transition to low-emission transportation services using sustainable aviation fuel.”