Hong Kong's Pacific Basin Shipping has launched a scheme to allow charterers to offset their carbon emissions from its bulkers.
The carbon-neutral voyage programme offers "green" contracts of affreightment on a voluntary basis.
Chief executive Martin Fruergaard said: "Major commodity producers, traders and end users — including some of our customers — have expressed increasing interest in mitigating their environmental footprint, including by beginning to offset some of their currently unavoidable direct and indirect emissions."
The offset cash will go into renewable energy projects, incentivising the development of more such efforts.
The shipowner has partnered CLP Innovation Enterprises, a unit of Hong Kong-headquartered power company CLP Holdings, for the offset programmes.
Tangible efforts
These provide independently verified carbon credits derived from CLP's wind and solar farms in Asia.
CLP is already working with Hong Kong tanker and bulker owner Wah Kwong Maritime Transport Holdings on carbon offsetting.
But Fruergaard said: "At Pacific Basin, we take the firm view that carbon offsetting is no substitute for tangible efforts to reduce and eventually eliminate our actual emissions."
He admitted there is a long journey ahead to full decarbonisation by 2050: "Carbon offsetting is at least something we can do today and, as long as we still generate unavoidable emissions, we believe that neutralising emissions through offsetting is an extra step worth taking."
Pacific Basin pledged to offset all carbon emissions from its global shore-side operations starting in 2020.
This includes all office activities, commuting, and business and crew travel.
