DHL Global Forwarding has launched its GoGreen Plus portfolio to hardwire lower-emission options into air and ocean freight, using sustainable fuels and fixed-rate structures to make decarbonised logistics part of standard buying decisions. The model links book-and-claim accounting with tiered products so climate commitments translate directly into how freight is planned, purchased, and reported.
Making Emissions Reduction Part of The Freight Contract
The GoGreen Plus portfolio sits on top of DHL Global Forwarding‘s global operation, which moves more than 2.1 million tonnes of air freight and over 3.1 million TEUs of ocean freight a year. That volume gives the company bargaining power in sustainable fuel markets and allows emission reductions from those fuels to be distributed across thousands of customers instead of a small number of bespoke projects.
GoGreen Plus Base introduces a default 10% emissions reduction factor on eligible shipments through a book-and-claim structure and a flat surcharge. The offer is set as an opt-out model, so the low-carbon option becomes the standard commercial setting unless a customer actively chooses otherwise. For many transport budgets, the additional cost is framed as a modest increment per shipment rather than a major investment decision, which lowers the barrier to entry for organisations under pressure to address Scope 3 freight emissions.
Two higher tiers deepen the reduction potential. GoGreen Plus Premium is configured at individual lane level and is designed to deliver up to 85% emissions reduction for selected flows, suitable for lanes tied to critical customer commitments or tight regulatory expectations. GoGreen Plus Select is reserved for large customers that require tailored decarbonisation profiles mapped to complex supply networks, allowing different reduction levels across regions, modes, or business units. All three tiers rely on verified low-carbon fuels introduced into DHL’s operating network, with the environmental attributes allocated to participating shippers.
This structure turns emissions performance into a negotiated line in the freight contract, alongside transit time, capacity, and service levels. Many organisations track logistics emissions under Scope 3 but do not control carriers, routes, or fuel procurement directly. By embedding certified fuel use and emissions accounting into standard freight products, GoGreen Plus converts a sustainability side initiative into a repeatable purchasing choice that can be governed through existing procurement and planning processes.
The approach also aligns with tightening disclosure requirements in regions such as the EU, where regulations like CSRD increase expectations for auditable logistics emissions data. Transparent allocation of emissions reductions, supported by digital reporting tools, gives finance and ESG teams structured inputs for climate reporting, assurance exercises, and investor communication. The offer ties into DHL Group’s broader climate roadmap, which targets net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and a 30% share of sustainable fuels by 2030, creating an internal demand signal that supports fuel producers scaling new capacity.
Treating Low-carbon Logistics as a Network Design Variable
For freight buyers, GoGreen Plus functions as a network and sourcing lever rather than a standalone sustainability program. Flat-rate pricing for a defined reduction band under the Base product enables multi-year budget planning, even as fuel markets remain volatile. Lane-specific pricing under the Premium tier allows tighter control where revenue exposure, customer contracts, or regulatory risk justify deeper cuts, while Select provides a framework for large, diversified networks to assign different emissions reduction levels to different flows.
Because the mechanism is independent of shipment origin or destination, organisations can apply a consistent decarbonisation construct to global flows instead of stitching together regional schemes. That consistency matters as companies reconfigure manufacturing footprints, nearshore production, and rebalance modal mix to manage cost, resilience, and service. A single book-and-claim framework across air and ocean reduces complexity at the interface between logistics operations, procurement, finance, and climate reporting.
Under book-and-claim, sustainable aviation or marine fuels do not need to power the specific aircraft or vessel that carries a given shipment. DHL introduces certified low-carbon fuels into its network where operationally feasible and allocates the corresponding emissions reductions to customers that fund those fuels, following recognised accounting standards similar to renewable energy certificate markets. This design allows sustainable fuels to be used where infrastructure and supply exist today while still giving global customers a credible way to reduce reported transport emissions.
The model depends on robust verification and governance to maintain trust. As more providers adopt book-and-claim, scrutiny has increased around double counting, quality of certificates, and the risk of weak sustainability claims. Independent certification frameworks, clear chain-of-custody rules, and integration with digital emissions dashboards will influence how widely these products are accepted by auditors, regulators, and capital markets. Organisations already preparing for more detailed climate audits and due diligence will pay close attention to how consistently these rules are applied across providers.
Recent international assessments attribute roughly a quarter of energy-related CO₂ emissions to transport, with freight logistics forming a significant portion. Carbon pricing mechanisms, fuel mandates, and import rules are expanding across major economies, gradually linking emissions intensity to financial cost. Offers such as GoGreen Plus give operational teams a defined tool to adjust freight emissions profiles on a shipment, lane, or network basis, rather than treating transport emissions as an unchangeable by-product of global trade.
Where Book-and-claim Meets Long-term Network Bets
Over the next decade, the most durable advantage is likely to emerge where short-term book-and-claim tools are combined with structural network and asset decisions, from modal shifts and route redesign to deeper collaboration with carriers and fuel suppliers. Decisions taken now on contract structures, data standards, and verification partners will shape how easily those longer-term moves can be executed and measured, and how convincingly logistics performance can be linked to the broader climate strategy of the enterprise.
