Zero Emission Maritime Buyers Alliance
The Zero Emission Maritime Buyers Alliance (ZEMBA) is a first-of-its-kind buyers group within the maritime sector with the mission to accelerate commercial deployment of scalable zero-emission (ZE) shipping solutions, enable economies of scale for freight buyers and suppliers, and maximize emissions reduction beyond what any one freight buyer could accomplish alone.
1 Billion Tonnes
The shipping industry emits 1 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas annually
ZEMBA’s vision is an international maritime shipping sector where:
- ZE marine fuels and technologies reach commercial viability and are safely deployed at scale.
- Freight buyers moving goods anywhere in the world can purchase third-party verified and assurable ZE shipping for 100% of their maritime freight operations by 2040.
- Greenhouse gas emissions are virtually eliminated for the maritime freight sector by 2050 at the latest.
Toward this vision, ZEMBA’s mission is to:
- Accelerate deployment of ZE shipping solutions and create access to high integrity environmental attributes (emissions reduction).
- Enable economies of scale for freight buyers and suppliers, especially for fuels and technology with potential to scale and decrease in cost over time.
- Maximize emissions reduction beyond what any one freight buyer could accomplish alone.
- Facilitate credible, transparent, traceable in-sector investments in maritime decarbonization solutions that freight buyers can claim toward their Scope 3 targets.
Early Work
Since 2020, the Aspen Institute Energy & Environment Program has been focused on catalyzing private sector leadership and driving policy change to enable full decarbonization of the maritime sector by 2050 at the latest. Aspen’s work provides space for “impossible” collaborations to be designed, launched, and thrive, encouraging leaders across sectors to recast what they think is achievable. By working at the intersection of market economics, technology, and policy, new relationships can be brought to bear to build a sustainable, zero-emission (ZE) maritime future.
As should be the case when seeking solutions to any multistakeholder challenge, Aspen convened early conversations with stakeholders across the maritime shipping value chain to understand the fundamental barriers to adoption of ZE fuels and technologies. It quickly became clear that there was a need and opportunity to engage the shipping industry’s customers, in particular climate-leading freight buyers, to support a new market and accelerate the pace of the maritime sectors’ decarbonization.
Evolution of coZEV
With this focus, Aspen worked in collaboration with and input from a network of cargo owner companies to develop coZEV, Cargo Owners for Zero Emission Vessels, a platform for climate-leading customers of the shipping industry to come together to undertake high impact initiatives that accelerate the transition to ZE maritime shipping. Our first action in this space was the coZEV 2040 Ambition Statement, which was the first ever collective signal of cargo owner support for transitioning to ZE solutions on a 1.5℃ aligned trajectory, specifically stating that signatory companies intend to only use ZE powered ocean transport services by 2040. The statement also includes the first call for policy action by a group of freight buyers, acknowledging that decarbonization of this sector requires strong public and private sector action at multiple levels.
Launch of ZEMBA
Building on the successful initial engagement with freight buyers via coZEV, and looking to successful efforts in other sectors that have used precompetitive collaboration and demand aggregation to drive sustainability, the Aspen Institute alongside co-founders Amazon, Patagonia, and Tchibo launched ZEMBA in March 2023. Its inaugural tender was launched in September 2023 with over 20 initial members and was successfully completed in April 2024 with the award of multi-year bilateral contracts to the winning shipping line .
Co-founders
Amazon
Patagonia
Tchibo
Members
AIT Worldwide
Bauhaus
Brooks Running
DB Journey
Dsm-firmenich
Electrolux Group
Flexport
Frog Bikes
GEPA
Green Worldwide Shipping
IKEA
Levi Strauss & Co.
Meta
Mondelēz International
Moose Toys
New Balance
Nike
Otto
Olyra
Pernod Ricard
Philips
Pledge
Polymed
Reckitt
REI Co-Op
Sanofi
Schneider Electric
SEKO Logistics
Sport-Thieme
Vaude
Co-founders
Amazon
Patagonia
Tchibo
Members
AIT Worldwide
Bauhaus
Brooks Running
DB Journey
Dsm-firmenich
Electrolux Group
Flexport
Frog Bikes
GEPA
Green Worldwide Shipping
IKEA
Levi Strauss & Co.
Meta
Mondelēz International
Moose Toys
New Balance
Nike
Otto
Olyra
Pernod Ricard
Philips
Pledge
Polymed
Reckitt
REI Co-Op
Schneider Electric
SEKO Logistics
Sport-Thieme
Vaude
ZEMBA Team
The Aspen Institute is a co-founder and facilitator of ZEMBA. The core team supporting ZEMBA is composed of staff from the Aspen Institute Energy and Environment Program.
ZEMBA Partners and Support
A number of important partners and advisors provide technical, legal, policy, and procurement expertise.
The Center for Green Market Activation (GMA) is a technical advisor to ZEMBA, providing support on book-and-claim system design, procurement system design, greenhouse gas emissions accounting and reporting, fuel sustainability criteria, fuel and service verification, and interactions with climate policy.
The Lloyd’s Register Maritime Decarbonisation Hub is a technical advisor to ZEMBA, providing sector-specific expertise, particularly regarding new and emerging zero-emission fuels and technologies. An independent, not-for-profit social purpose organisation, LR MDH is working towards a vision of a safe, sustainable, and human-centric decarbonised shipping industry for the benefit of society.
Other partners include Alex Hueser, Dr. Aly Shaw, and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP. Seed funding for ZEMBA was provided by the ClimateWorks Foundation. The Bezos Earth Fund is a key philanthropic partner.
Join ZEMBA Today
ZEMBA is developing a zero-emission maritime market for the most scalable and economically viable long term solutions.