Sustainable aviation fuel has a supply problem and a geography problem.

SAF is not available at every airport, and many corporate buyers have no practical way to ensure that the aircraft carrying their employees or freight is physically fueled with SAF. Book-and-claim addresses that problem by separating the environmental attributes of SAF from the physical fuel. IATA describes book-and-claim as a mechanism that allows SAF environmental benefits to be transferred independently of where the fuel is physically supplied.

The model allows SAF to be produced and used where practical while the associated environmental attributes are transferred to another buyer. A company in North America can therefore support SAF use without requiring the fuel to be delivered to the airport used by its employees or cargo.

Until recently, the main weakness was accounting credibility. Companies could buy SAF certificates, but their treatment within Scope 3 accounting and science-based target frameworks remained uncertain.

That position is changing in 2026. The IATA SAF Registry is operational, RSB has expanded its book-and-claim system and published accounting guidance, SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard Version 2.0 recognizes book-and-claim within its implementation hierarchy, and GHG Protocol is developing a formal reporting framework for market instruments including SAF.

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The infrastructure now exists

IATA launched the SAF Registry in April 2025 and transferred its operation to the Civil Aviation Decarbonization Organization, or CADO. The registry records SAF transactions and environmental attributes across the value chain and is intended to prevent double counting while allowing airlines and corporate customers to participate regardless of where the physical fuel is uplifted.

IATA reported more than 30 early users at launch. The registry is designed to support interoperability with other systems and both regulatory and voluntary applications.

IATA's SAF Accounting and Reporting Methodology provides the accounting basis for the registry. It uses a purchase-based approach regardless of SAF uplift location and requires proof that the SAF has entered common fuel infrastructure or has been combusted before emissions reductions are accounted for. It also links Scope 1 and Scope 3 attributes to a specific fuel batch and requires controls against double counting.

RSB has built another important part of this infrastructure. Its Book & Claim Registry allows sustainability attributes from certified renewable fuels to be converted into Book & Claim Units and transferred independently from the physical product.

In June 2026, RSB introduced a registry update allowing Book & Claim Units to be separated according to Scope 1, Scope 3 logistics and Scope 3 end-user applications. Transactions are now conducted using energy content or product mass rather than converted MtCO2 equivalent, while emissions reduction information remains available in retirement documentation.

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Book-and-claim does not change physical emissions

Purchasing a SAF certificate does not mean that the aircraft carrying a corporate traveler physically used SAF. It also does not change the physical jet fuel consumed by the airline on that flight.

RSB's June 2026 accounting guidance makes this explicit. Book-and-claim allows the environmental benefit associated with SAF used elsewhere in the aviation system to be allocated to another participant, provided the underlying SAF, transfer and retirement are properly tracked.

For airlines, physical fuel emissions remain part of operational reporting. For freight forwarders and corporate customers, book-and-claim-supported reductions can be reported separately when supported by appropriate retirement statements and value-chain documentation.

That distinction avoids treating SAF certificates as conventional carbon offsets. The intended claim is linked to a reduction within the aviation fuel system rather than a separate emissions reduction project outside aviation.

For corporate buyers, two important applications are business travel under Scope 3 Category 6 and upstream transportation and distribution under Scope 3 Category 4. RSB's guidance provides worked examples covering both categories.

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SBTi V2.0 improves the target-setting position

The SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard Version 2.0, published in June 2026, is one of the most important developments for SAF certificate demand.

The Standard introduces an implementation hierarchy. Companies are expected to prioritize direct emissions reductions within their own operations and value chains. Where direct intervention is constrained, activity-pool and broader sector-level action may be used.

SBTi states that these actions can be supported by market instruments including energy attributes and commodity certificates using chain-of-custody structures such as mass balance and book-and-claim, subject to integrity requirements.

This matters for difficult Scope 3 categories. A corporation cannot control which fuel an airline loads onto a specific aircraft, and airlines cannot provide SAF physically at every airport. Book-and-claim allows corporate demand to support SAF entering the aviation system even when the physical fuel is used elsewhere.

SBTi V2.0 does not mean that every SAF certificate is automatically eligible. SBTi is developing an Interoperability and Recognition Framework that will establish criteria for certification systems and market instruments. Additional implementation and claims guidance is also still being prepared.

Companies therefore need to distinguish between SBTi accepting book-and-claim as a possible implementation mechanism and SBTi approving a specific SAF certificate or registry for a specific claim.

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GHG Protocol is still the accounting gap

The largest unresolved issue remains GHG Protocol.

GHG Protocol is developing a new Actions and Market Instruments Standard to address climate actions that are not adequately represented in conventional physical Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 inventories. SAF is explicitly included among the instruments being considered.

The proposed approach would introduce multiple reporting statements. A physical inventory would continue to report emissions associated with the company's operations and value chain. A separate market-based statement could report emissions associated with contractual instruments such as SAF certificates. A further impact statement could report broader emissions effects using consequential accounting methods.

This could resolve one of the main difficulties facing SAF certificates by allowing physical emissions and contractual decarbonization action to be reported separately.

However, the rules are not final. GHG Protocol stated in July 2026 that the AMI Technical Working Group is still developing accounting requirements, quality criteria and eligibility rules. A public consultation on the draft is planned for Q2 2027.

GHG Protocol has advised companies experimenting with the approach to keep physical inventory emissions, market-based emissions and the impacts of climate actions separate and transparent, without netting between them.

A SAF certificate can therefore have credible registry documentation and still require careful treatment in a company's formal emissions inventory.

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CORSIA should not be confused with corporate Scope 3

ICAO's CORSIA framework provides an established system for recognizing emissions reductions associated with eligible aviation fuels.

Aircraft operators can use CORSIA Eligible Fuels to reduce their CORSIA offsetting requirements when the fuel meets relevant sustainability certification, lifecycle emissions, monitoring and verification requirements. ICAO also maintains controls intended to prevent double claiming.

However, CORSIA recognition should not be treated as automatic approval of a corporate SAF book-and-claim claim.

ICAO states that it is still studying fuel accounting systems for international aviation, including the relevance and applicability of book-and-claim under CORSIA.

The corporate Scope 3 question is therefore separate from an airline's ability to claim CORSIA Eligible Fuel. Buyers need to identify which environmental attribute they are purchasing and which accounting or target framework they intend to use.

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The quality of the certificate will determine its value

As the SAF certificate market grows, not all instruments should be expected to carry the same value.

Corporate buyers need to understand the underlying fuel pathway, feedstock, lifecycle emissions intensity, sustainability certification, production information, vintage and registry. IATA's methodology places significant emphasis on transparent fuel-batch information, lifecycle values, verification and prevention of double counting.

Additionality will also remain important. IATA's methodology does not prescribe one universal additionality threshold. Instead, it requires transparency and leaves additionality decisions to the relevant claiming framework.

Corporate procurement policies may therefore need their own criteria. A buyer may require certificates associated with SAF beyond regulatory mandates, specific sustainability certification, minimum lifecycle emissions reductions or particular production pathways.

The certificate becomes more than a quantity of avoided emissions. Its commercial value depends on the quality and relevance of the underlying SAF and the credibility of the chain of custody.

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What companies should do now

Companies considering SAF certificates should begin with the emissions category they are trying to address.

Business travel buyers should determine how airline travel data, SAF attributes and Scope 3 Category 6 reporting will connect. Freight buyers need equivalent controls for Category 4 emissions and for intermediaries such as freight forwarders.

Procurement teams should require transparent retirement documentation and confirm that environmental attributes have not also been sold or claimed under an incompatible scheme.

They should also record the physical emissions inventory separately from any SAF certificate-supported emissions reduction. This is consistent with the direction of GHG Protocol's current AMI work.

Longer-term SAF agreements should include enough flexibility to adapt to SBTi recognition criteria, GHG Protocol accounting rules and registry interoperability requirements as they develop.

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The commercial impact

SAF book-and-claim has crossed an important threshold.

The market now has operational registries, chain-of-custody systems and practical accounting guidance. SBTi has recognized book-and-claim and commodity certificates within its implementation architecture, while GHG Protocol is creating a dedicated framework that explicitly includes SAF.

What the market does not yet have is one final, universal rule allowing every corporate SAF certificate to be deducted directly from a company's Scope 3 inventory. GHG Protocol's detailed eligibility and accounting requirements remain under development.

The strongest SAF certificates will increasingly be those that can demonstrate physical SAF production and use, credible sustainability certification, clear allocation of Scope 1 and Scope 3 attributes, secure retirement, no double counting and alignment with the accounting framework used by the buyer.

For corporate travel and freight buyers, book-and-claim offers a practical way to support aviation decarbonization without waiting for SAF to become available at every airport. For producers and airlines, it expands the potential buyer base beyond customers physically connected to the location where SAF is supplied.

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AFS Commodities works with companies across sustainable fuels and environmental commodity markets. If your organization is assessing SAF certificates, book-and-claim procurement or the treatment of aviation emissions within its Scope 3 strategy, contact AFS Commodities to discuss available structures, certificate requirements and procurement options.