A brand new sustainability rating system for ocean shipping has been developed.
The BICEPS Rating System gives full transparency on the actual and relative sustainability performance of shipping lines, allowing shippers to include sustainability as a clear differentiator within their shipper selection process.
Five global shippers, AB InBev, AkzoNobel, DSM, FrieslandCampina and Huntsman, have joined forces in the BICEPS Network to develop a common and concurrent approach to sustainability in their procurement of ocean freight and selection of carriers. The first step taken was the development of the BICEPS Rating System. The aim is for this tool to create a commercial incentive for ocean freight carriers to become more sustainable.
Hosted online, the rated system includes 5 sustainability themes: communication and reporting on sustainability, emissions, improvement projects, collaboration projects and long-term ambitions.
Instead of developing an additional sustainability methodology, the BICEPS Rating System consolidates existing sustainability methodologies and indexes them by including future ambitions of shipping lines on sustainability.
DSM, Kim van Neer, Global Category Manager Ocean and Airfreight: “Via the BICEPS Network we hope we can further leverage and boost sustainability initiatives in the shipping industry. Therefore, also within our procurement of ocean freight we have fully adopted green tender principle with the BICEPS Rating System, which means we screen all shipping lines based on sustainability and rank them accordingly.”
FrieslandCampina, Walter Vermeer, Manager Category Procurement Logistics: “We as members of the BICEPS Network have developed the BICEPS Rating System because we want to boost the speed and adoption rate of proven processes and technologies, to make the impact bigger and faster.”
The BICEPS Network is now inviting shippers to join the Network and to use the Rating System in their procurement and share best practices. The next step for the Network is to also actively organise dialogues between shippers, carriers and chain partners to stimulate sustainable improvements and adoption of clean technologies and other sustainable innovations.
Click here to access the BICEPS Rating System
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