3 sustainability questions to… Edouard Gouin, CEO of Convelio
Why and how did Convelio’s sustainability journey start?
When we started Convelio, we knew we had one mission: to carry the art shipping industry into the future. You can’t do that without thinking about climate change, and the impact that the transport and logistics sector has on the environment. We always knew that we would have a sustainability function, it is an important topic for both Clement (Convelio’s other co-founder) and I. It is also worth noting that our investors, Acton Capital and Mundi Ventures, have environmental programs and their support ensures that we continue to prioritise this topic across the business.
Before we launched our climate program, we had to build our service offering and tech product. Before anything else, we had to start by proving our business model. So, we built our logistics offering and tech product. As soon as this was launched, we started our Climate Care program, in June 2021.
After this, our next step was to launch Climate Care, our environmental sustainability program. This launched in June 2021. We were honored to be included in the Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership Accelerator program for specialist companies working on tools to reduce emissions. We received advice, mentorship and support to help us set up Climate Care, and shortly after the program, we began our first emissions report. This was published in March 2022 and showed just how high the aviation emissions are compared to all other business activities (94% of the total of Convelio’s emissions in 2020). We knew we needed to reduce these emissions, and our first project was to bring emissions visibility onto our orders for both our team and our clients.
What triggered your decision to offer your clients the option to compensate for the emissions of their shipments?
Our company's priority is to reduce emissions, and we will do this by offering alternative solutions for shipping. For example, encouraging our clients to use sea freight over air freight, and by influencing our suppliers to invest in alternative fuels and vehicles. As we are a freight forwarder (so we do not own assets), we expect the reduction project to be ongoing work internally and with our network. We do not expect a quick fix to reduce our CO2 emissions, and we do not see compensation for emissions (or offsetting) as a solution. This does not neutralise the emissions emitted by each shipment.
When it came to the question about if we should offer this service to clients, we sought advice from specialists and received lots of conflicting opinions. Although offsetting is not a quick fix, there are some great climate projects that need financing and we were keen to support them. One big turning point for us was the publication of the IPCC report in April 2022. This highlighted solutions in the transport sector in the transition to a low-carbon economy. Including the need for advances in fuel technology, namely the development and deployment of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). This has the potential to reduce emissions related to air — and the technology already exists.
The issue is that it is produced in small quantities, and therefore too expensive for airlines to cover the full cost. In 2020, 95% of Convelio’s emissions were linked to air transportation. SAF can reduce carbon emissions by up to 80% compared to fossil-based kerosene, and its deployment at scale is crucial to reducing global transport emissions. SQUAKE offered the opportunity to donate to a Sustainable Aviation Fuel fund, Compensaid, that brings SAF directly to airlines so it can be used in flights right now. This work guarantees volumes for SAF producers, giving it the opportunity to be deployed at scale to accelerate low-impact aviation. We see this to be crucial to accelerate the changes in our industry — we wanted to support it.
What is your take on the future of sustainable shipping?
The shipping industry will have to go through some seismic changes in the coming years. We are already beginning to see more transport and logistics companies using technology to be more efficient — both from a time, and environmental perspective. We think that emissions calculations will become increasingly important, and this information will be clear on the products as well as on any transport we purchase. This goes for shipping art and design works, but also if we go on holidays, commute, etc. In the near future, we hope that Sustainable Aviation Fuel will be mandatory on all flights. This will help reduce the impact of the aviation industry — which is one of the fastest-growing areas for global emissions. We also expect there to be a modal shift to sea freight. The maritime industry is also seeing some impressive innovations too, including a push for cleaner fuels as well as the introduction of sailing freight vessels — which will rely on wind as the main power. This future vision is not far off, in fact, transatlantic sail freight is already taking bookings for the end of 2023.
Edouard Gouin is one of two co-founders at Convelio, a company delivering global logistics to the art market through a digital platform and integration tool. In June 2021 he was recognized as the IVY Award winner for Best Young Tech Leader; and in 2020 he was listed in the Forbes’ 30 Under 30 for Convelio and its contribution to the Art and Culture industry.
