DHL’s GoGreen Plus: How Sustainable Aviation Fuel Becomes a Customer Service

MaMeeFarm™ Case Studies | Logistics • Aviation • Business Operations

23 October 2026

An international shipment may pass through several airports and aircraft before reaching its destination. Introducing a different type of aviation fuel into that network creates a practical business challenge: how can customers support its use when the fuel is not available along every route?

DHL Express addresses this challenge through GoGreen Plus, a service connecting sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) procurement with customer participation in lower-emission shipping.

The service brings together fuel suppliers, aviation operations, environmental attribute tracking, and customer reporting.

It illustrates how an investment in transport operations can become a customer-facing service without requiring every participating shipment to travel on an aircraft physically using SAF.

Connecting Fuel Procurement with Shipping Services

In February 2023, DHL Express announced the launch of GoGreen Plus, initially making the service available in selected markets before expanding its availability.

Customers could choose GoGreen Plus for individual shipments through MyDHL+, DHL’s digital shipping platform.

The service was supported by DHL’s existing sustainable aviation fuel arrangements with bp and Neste.

This connected two activities that traditionally operate at different levels of the logistics business.

DHL purchases fuel for its aviation network, while customers purchase transportation services for individual shipments.

GoGreen Plus creates a commercial connection between these activities by allowing customers to participate in a service associated with lower calculated greenhouse gas emissions.

Sustainable aviation fuel remains a combustible fuel and produces emissions when used in aircraft engines.

Its potential environmental advantage comes from lower lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions compared with conventional jet fuel, depending on the feedstock, production process, and applicable accounting methodology.

The service therefore concerns lifecycle emissions reductions rather than the elimination of emissions during flight.

From Procurement Agreement to Operating Flight

Japan provides a practical example of the supply arrangements supporting DHL’s SAF programme.

In January 2025, DHL Express announced an agreement with Cosmo Oil Marketing to purchase 7.2 million litres of sustainable aviation fuel annually.

The agreement identified Central Japan International Airport as the location where the fuel would be supplied.

The announced volume represented an annual contractual commitment rather than confirmation that the entire quantity had already been delivered.

In May 2025, Cosmo reported that SAF produced from used cooking oil had been supplied to a regularly scheduled DHL cargo service at the airport on 23 May.

The fuel was produced by SAFFAIRE SKY ENERGY, a joint venture involving Cosmo Oil, JGC Holdings, and REVO International.

Cosmo also reported that the fuel had obtained ISCC EU and ISCC CORSIA certifications.

The delivery connected the commercial procurement arrangement with an actual aviation operation.

It also demonstrated the role of domestic fuel production and airport supply infrastructure in supporting the wider adoption of SAF.

Why the Fuel Does Not Need to Follow Every Shipment

International express delivery operates through a network of aircraft, airports, and distribution facilities.

A customer may send a parcel along a route where sustainable aviation fuel is not physically available.

Requiring every participating shipment to travel on an aircraft using SAF would therefore limit the service to particular locations and flights.

GoGreen Plus uses a Book & Claim approach to address this constraint.

Under this arrangement, SAF is introduced into the aviation system, while the associated environmental attributes can be allocated separately from the physical movement of the fuel.

The customer does not need to receive transportation on the same aircraft that consumed the purchased SAF.

Instead, participation is connected to an allocation of eligible emissions-reduction attributes under the applicable programme.

For the Cosmo agreement, DHL stated that the environmental attributes would be transferred through the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) Credit Transfer System.

This allows the physical supply of fuel and the commercial allocation of its associated attributes to operate across different parts of the transport network.

It does not mean that every shipment purchased with GoGreen Plus physically travels on an aircraft powered by SAF.

How Environmental Attributes Become Part of a Service

A customer-facing emissions-reduction service requires more than purchasing alternative fuel.

It also needs a reliable way to record the associated environmental attributes and establish which participating organizations may use them for reporting.

ISCC’s credit-transfer arrangements support the registration, transfer, and retirement of eligible credits.

Retirement identifies credits that have been used for a claim and are no longer available for further transfer or use.

In October 2023, Neste, ISCC, and DHL announced a pilot demonstrating how these arrangements could operate across the aviation value chain.

The pilot involved SAF supplied to DHL’s airline European Air Transport (EAT).

Environmental attributes associated with the fuel were registered through the certification system.

The airline’s Scope 1 credit was retired, while the corresponding Scope 3 credit was transferred through DHL and subsequently retired for customer reporting.

These credits relate to different reporting positions within the same value chain.

The Scope 1 and Scope 3 claims do not represent two separate physical reductions that can simply be added together.

This distinction is important because the same underlying fuel activity may be relevant to the emissions accounts of different organizations.

The registry supports traceable allocation and controls intended to prevent repeated use of the same credits.

Customer reporting remains subject to the specific allocation records, certification requirements, and applicable greenhouse gas accounting rules.

The Scale of DHL’s Fuel Transition

DHL Group’s 2025 reporting provides a wider picture of how sustainable aviation fuel is being introduced across its aviation activities.

The group reported that SAF represented 10.0% of aviation fuel consumption in its own fleet, including mandatory blends.

For its Scope 3 aviation activities, the reported SAF share was 1.6%.

Across total aviation fuel consumption, the reported share was 4.4%.

These figures describe different parts of DHL’s operating network.

The own-fleet figure concerns aviation activities within the group’s direct operating boundary.

Scope 3 aviation activities involve transportation-related emissions associated with services outside that direct boundary.

The total figure provides a broader measure across the group’s aviation fuel consumption.

The percentages do not describe the proportion of individual customer shipments transported entirely using SAF.

They instead show how fuel adoption varies across different parts of a large logistics network.

The Commercial Cost of Lower-Emission Aviation

Sustainable aviation fuel also introduces financial considerations.

DHL Group reported €205 million in additional operating expenditure for SAF during 2025.

That figure relates to the group’s additional operating costs associated with sustainable aviation fuel compared with conventional fuel.

It does not represent the value of the Cosmo agreement, total SAF procurement expenditure, or revenue generated by GoGreen Plus.

SAF has generally involved a price premium over conventional aviation fuel, making procurement and cost management important parts of the transition.

GoGreen Plus provides a way for customers to participate commercially in DHL’s lower-emission transport offering.

DHL identifies its lower-emission products as contributing to the funding of decarbonization activities.

However, the company’s reported SAF expenditure does not establish how much of that cost is recovered through GoGreen Plus customer charges.

The profitability of the individual service also cannot be determined from the group-level expenditure figure alone.

The commercial significance lies in connecting an operational investment with a service that customers can choose as part of their shipping arrangements.

Connecting Different Parts of the Aviation Value Chain

DHL’s approach involves several organizations performing different functions.

Fuel producers manufacture SAF using eligible production pathways.

Suppliers and airport infrastructure operators make the fuel available for aviation use.

Airlines consume the fuel within their operations.

Certification and credit-transfer systems support the allocation of eligible environmental attributes.

Logistics customers purchase services that may include the associated emissions-reduction benefits under the programme’s conditions.

These activities do not necessarily take place at the same location or within the same commercial transaction.

The service depends on coordination across the wider aviation and logistics system.

The physical fuel supports the underlying emissions-reduction activity, while the accounting arrangements determine how associated claims are allocated.

This distinction allows customers to participate even when SAF availability differs between airports and routes.

What the DHL Case Reveals

DHL’s GoGreen Plus demonstrates how a logistics company can connect changes in its transport operations with a service offered directly to customers.

The underlying activity involves purchasing and using sustainable aviation fuel.

The customer-facing service adds a commercial arrangement through which eligible environmental attributes can be allocated and reported.

Japan’s SAF supply agreement and the subsequent reported delivery illustrate the physical side of the transition.

The ISCC credit-transfer arrangements demonstrate how environmental attributes can be managed across different organizations and reporting boundaries.

DHL’s 2025 fuel figures also show that adoption remains uneven across its aviation network.

The service does not establish that every participating shipment physically uses SAF, nor does its existence alone demonstrate a particular financial return or a measurable increase in global SAF production attributable to each customer purchase.

Its significance is the connection between fuel procurement, aviation operations, certification systems, and customer demand.

For international logistics businesses, reducing transport-related emissions involves changes that extend beyond the movement of individual parcels.

DHL’s experience illustrates how those changes can be organized into a service while maintaining a distinction between the physical fuel used in the network and the environmental attributes allocated to customers.

Sources

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