The International Council on Clean Transportation has proposed a single, common standard for measuring the greenhouse‑gas performance of fuels used in maritime green corridors, sources indicated on 2 October 2026.
The proposal would require emissions to be measured on a well‑to‑wake basis and expressed in carbon dioxide‑equivalent terms. That measurement framework would cover the fuel’s entire chain from production through to combustion on board, the report said.
Under the plan, life‑cycle accounting methods would be used to calculate the well‑to‑wake performance. ICCT has identified the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard’s life‑cycle approach as the template it wants applied to the corridor fuels proposal.
The California programme is described in the report as the state’s programme requiring suppliers to bring down the average carbon intensity of the transport fuels they. The ICCT’s request links the corridor standard explicitly to those established life‑cycle accounting techniques.
The reports item set out the technical framing without publishing implementation details or a timetable for adoption. The proposal, as reported, focuses strictly on the metric and methodological basis for assessing fuels rather than on regulatory instruments or enforcement mechanisms.
ICCT’s emphasis on a well‑to‑wake, CO2e metric aims to align disparate fuel assessments around a single numerical yardstick, the report indicated. That would mean comparing fuels on the basis of total greenhouse‑gas emissions attributable to each fuel when all stages of production and use are accounted for.
Scope and single metric
The cornerstone of the proposal is a single metric: emissions measured in carbon dioxide‑equivalent terms on a well‑to‑wake basis. The report states this would explicitly include emissions from producing the fuel and emissions released when it is burned on board.
Using a single, comparable metric is presented as the primary means of ensuring fuels supplied to green corridors can be assessed consistently. The report does not set out, and did not cite, any numerical thresholds or target cuts in intensity.
Reliance on established life‑cycle accounting
ICCT’s suggested reliance on the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard’s life‑cycle accounting methods is central to the proposal. The report notes the LCFS method as the basis the ICCT wishes to adapt for corridor fuels.
The published account confines itself to the methodological recommendation; it does not, in the material supplied to reports, outline changes to the LCFS approach or how it would be adapted for international maritime application.
A short factual summary
• Measurement metric: well‑to‑wake, in carbon dioxide‑equivalent units.
• Scope covered: full chain from fuel production to on‑board combustion.
• Accounting method proposed: life‑cycle techniques from the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard.
Sources carried the report on 2 October 2026, which presents the ICCT position on how green‑corridor fuels might be assessed. The published note frames the proposal as a technical specification for measurement and accounting rather than as a regulatory package or implementation plan.
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