Washington, D.C., 18 September 2026: The Zero Emission Maritime Buyers Alliance (ZEMBA) is today revealed as a 2026 Finalist of The Earthshot Prize, the world’s most prestigious environmental award, for creating a pioneering buyers’ alliance to solve one of the biggest problems in global decarbonisation, bringing the world’s largest and most ambitious cargo owners together to create the market for zero-emission shipping.
The Earthshot Prize, founded by Prince William in 2020, recognises solutions from different geographies, sectors and stages in their life cycle, dedicated to solving our planet’s great environmental challenges. Now past the halfway point of the Earthshot decade, The Earthshot Prize in 2026 is celebrating leadership from all corners of the globe, as people turn environmental ambition into action at scale.
Nominated in the Revive Our Oceans Earthshot, ZEMBA is helping address one of the most significant barriers to decarbonising global trade. While technologies capable of dramatically reducing emissions from international shipping are emerging, investment has been limited because shipping companies have lacked sufficient long-term demand to justify deploying vessels powered by new zero-emission fuels. ZEMBA was established to solve that commercial challenge by bringing cargo owners together to create a shared market signal that supports investment in cleaner shipping.
ZEMBA is helping the world reach a positive tipping point – a threshold in a system beyond which change becomes self-propelling. By pooling costs and risk across its members and driving down the green premium on zero-emission fuels, ZEMBA advances the shipping industry towards a global tipping point for net-zero global shipping through guaranteed demand. ZEMBA’s work is especially significant given the need to reduce emissions from international shipping by over 20% from 2008 levels by 2030 to reach this tipping point.
Alongside ZEMBA’s public recognition as a 2026 Finalist, The Earthshot Prize will work with the alliance to accelerate adoption of its collaborative procurement model by connecting the alliance with additional global cargo owners, shipping companies, fuel producers, investors and policymakers; supporting partnerships that expand demand for zero-emission shipping across new sectors and regions; and helping raise international awareness of practical commercial approaches that can accelerate maritime decarbonisation.
Prince William, President and Founder of The Earthshot Prize, said: “Every year, our Finalists give me renewed optimism. They show us that, even as the environmental challenges remain urgent, extraordinary people around the world are already proving that progress is possible. Seeing solutions work gives us all confidence to act. When they succeed, they inspire others and accelerate change. I’m proud to welcome these 15 Finalists to the Earthshot Prize community and look forward to celebrating their stories in Mumbai this November.”
International shipping underpins the global economy, transporting over 80% of world trade and connecting manufacturers, producers and consumers across every continent. Yet the sector is also responsible for approximately 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, producing emissions comparable to those of many major industrialised nations. According to the International Maritime Organization, without rapid action, shipping emissions are projected to increase as global trade continues to grow, while contributing to air pollution and ocean acidification that threaten marine ecosystems and coastal communities worldwide.
At the centre of ZEMBA’s work is its collective procurement model. Although very low carbon fuels such as e-fuels made from renewable energy are increasingly viable, they remain significantly more expensive than conventional fossil marine fuels. Until economies of scale can be achieved, they cost two to five times more. Rather than relying on regulation alone to transform the market, ZEMBA aggregates demand for zero-emission shipping: members make multi-year binding purchasing commitments through competitive procurement processes, providing shipping companies with long-term demand signals that help build confidence to invest in vessels and fuel supply chains with substantially lower emissions. Many of ZEMBA’s smaller members are able to decarbonise large shares of their freight activity by leveraging the economies of scale, market credibility, and streamlined procurement process offered by collective procurement.
Across its first two tenders, ZEMBA expects participating contracts to support at least 200,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) emissions reductions between 2026 and 2031, and targets launching its third tender in 2027.
The alliance was co-founded in 2023 by the Aspen Institute Energy and Environment Program alongside Amazon, Patagonia and Tchibo. ZEMBA now aggregates demand from 50 climate-leading cargo owners of different sizes, including major global brands like IKEA, Nike, Poly Medicure Ltd., and Sanofi. ZEMBA works with cargo owners to collectively create the predictable demand needed to accelerate commercial deployment through multi-year tenders for zero-emission freight. Following its incubation at the Aspen Institute, ZEMBA is now an initiative of the Center for Green Market Activation (GMA), where it joins a portfolio of market activation programs accelerating decarbonization across heavy industry and transport.
Ingrid Irigoyen, Founder and Managing Director of ZEMBA, said: “Shipping touches every industry on Earth and most products that fill our homes and shops have travelled across our oceans; it’s a complex sector. Decarbonising global shipping will require action and effort across the value chain. Cargo owners have an important role to play because the choices they make today influence the investments that shipping companies make for decades to come. ZEMBA was inspired by a lesson from sustainable seafood: good information and impactful platforms for collaboration can lead to rapid growth of corporate demand for new sustainable alternatives. That raised the question of whether buyers could do something similar for ocean transportation. ZEMBA was created because while the technology to decarbonise shipping exists, the market to deploy it at scale and with confidence did not. We give organisations a practical way to act collectively rather than individually, sharing both opportunity and responsibility as we help build a market for zero-emission shipping and help propel zero-emission fuels to a 5-10% share of the global maritime energy mix. Being recognised as an Earthshot Prize Finalist is an important endorsement of that collaborative approach and of what can be achieved when leaders come together to accelerate change.”
As more cargo owners, shipping companies, fuel producers and policymakers participate, the alliance aims to strengthen confidence across the maritime value chain and contribute to the broader market conditions needed for zero-emission fuels to become commercially competitive at scale. Rather than replacing regulation or public investment, the alliance illustrates how private-sector collaboration can work alongside policy to unlock markets for low-carbon technologies.
Ingrid Irigoyen continued: “International shipping is fundamental to how the world trades, so its transition to zero-emission fuels will require collaboration across governments, industry, finance and customers alike. No single organisation can achieve that transformation on its own. Our role is to help demonstrate that when cargo owners align around a shared goal, they can provide the confidence that enables investment throughout the maritime value chain. We hope our experience encourages others to explore similar collaborative approaches as the global shipping industry continues its transition. Being recognised by The Earthshot Prize will help us build new partnerships, reach additional organisations and accelerate that collective global effort – showing that we can create new markets, unlock investment and accelerate environmental progress.”
This year’s 15 Finalists were selected from The Earthshot Prize’s database of nearly 7,000 nominations across 169 countries, supported by a global network of over 363 nominators, and an Expert Advisory Panel of more than 150 specialists, alongside assessment and research by The Earthshot Prize’s selection team and partners.
They join a community of 75 Finalists supported since 2020, whose work has collectively avoided or captured more than 18 million tonnes of CO₂e, protected or restored 58 million hectares of land and 85 million hectares of ocean and coastline, removed or avoided 465,000 tonnes of waste, saved 21 million tonnes of water and improved air quality in regions home to 600 million people.
Aligned with the five Earthshots: Protect and Restore Nature, Clean Our Air, Revive Our Oceans, Build a Waste-Free World and Fix Our Climate – the Finalists will be considered by Prince William and fellow members of The Earthshot Prize Council, with five Winners announced at the 2026 Awards Night in Mumbai, India.
The Prize Council includes Prince William; Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah; Cate Blanchett; Indra Nooyi; José Andrés; Christiana Figueres; Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim; Wanjira Mathai; Nemonte Nenquimo; Gisele Bündchen; Luisa Neubauer; Naoko Yamazaki; Ernest Gibson; and Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
To find out more about this year’s Finalists, visit: https://earthshotprize.org/
Media contacts
María Dolben Mantilla, The Earthshot Prize (press@earthshotprize.org)
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About The Earthshot Prize:
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Founded by Prince William and incubated in the The Royal Foundation in 2020 for a year before becoming an independent organisation, The Earthshot Prize is the world’s most prestigious and impactful award designed to identify, back and celebrate groundbreaking leadership in environmental action. Inspired by President John F. Kennedy’s Moonshot, which united millions of people around the goal of reaching the moon, The Earthshot Prize is designed to mobilise a decade of action for the planet. The five challenges are: Protect and Restore Nature; Clean Our Air; Revive Our Oceans; Build a Waste-Free World; and Fix Our Climate.
The Earthshot Prize aims to turn the current pessimism surrounding environmental issues into optimism by championing inspiring leadership and helping to scale incredible cutting-edge solutions. It will discover 50 Winners over 10 years with the power to repair the planet. More than an award, The Earthshot Prize works in partnership with a Global Alliance of Partners to support the scaling of the solutions discovered and selected each year.
The Global Alliance Founding Partners are a group of leading global organisations and philanthropists, which act as strategic funding partners to the Prize, including Aga Khan Development Network, AL Philanthropies, Allen Family Philanthropies, Bezos Earth Fund, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Breakthrough Energy Foundation, Builders Vision, Coleman Family Ventures, DP World, Elaine and Eduardo Saverin Foundation, Eleven Eleven Foundation, Giving Grousbeck Fazzalari, Holch Povlsen Foundation, Rob Walton Foundation, Sandy and Paul Edgerley, Standard Chartered Bank, Stelios Philanthropic Foundation, Temasek Trust, and Uber.
Global Alliance Partners are non-profit environment and sustainable development organisations that bring expertise, global reach and serve as nominating organisations each year. For a full list of our Global Alliance Partners, visit: https://earthshotprize.org/people-partners/global-alliance/
Global Alliance Members are some of the world’s largest and most influential companies and brands that will support The Earthshot Prize, implement ambitious changes within their businesses and accelerate the advancement of the solutions of The Earthshot Prize Finalists and Winners. They are Arup, Bloomberg L.P., British Airways, Deloitte, Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, Hitachi, Ingka Group (IKEA), Microsoft, The Multichoice Group, Natura &Co, Safaricom, Salesforce, Unilever, Vodacom Group, and Walmart.
About ZEMBA:
The Zero Emission Maritime Buyers Alliance (ZEMBA) is a first-of-its-kind buyers group within the maritime sector, the aim of which is to accelerate commercial deployment of clean energy-powered shipping, enable economies of scale, and help cargo owners maximize their positive impact beyond what any one freight buyer could accomplish alone. In September 2026, following three years of incubation at the Aspen Institute, ZEMBA became a program of the Center for Green Market Activation (GMA), a US-based, globally focused nonprofit that catalyzes and scales the uptake of low-carbon goods and services within hard-to-abate industries including aviation, maritime, trucking, cement and concrete, and chemicals. As part of GMA, ZEMBA continues to advance its mission while benefiting from shared expertise and infrastructure across GMA’s growing portfolio of market activation programs.
The 50 current members of ZEMBA encourage additional companies to join us in sending a growing demand signal for scalable, sustainable shipping through ZEMBA’s tenders. Learn more at www.shipzemba.org.
