GIZ and Smart Freight Centre Announce Strategic Collaboration to Advance Sustainable Maritime Freight through Greener Reefers

Hamburg, June 2, 2025 — Today, at the Hamburg Sustainability Conference (HSC), the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and Smart Freight Centre (SFC) officially announced a mutual collaboration and support to accelerate the global transition to sustainable maritime freight transport. The work will promote the development and adoption of Greener Reefers, a new generation of energy-efficient, climate-friendly refrigerated shipping containers.

Greener reefer final pr pic

Greener Reefers use natural refrigerants and blowing agents with ultra-low climate impact. They contain no fluorinated gases (F-gases) or PFAS, which degrade into harmful substances such as trifluoroacetic acid (TFA). This makes them an environmentally superior alternative for transporting temperature-sensitive goods across the global cold chain.

Through this collaboration, SFC formally joins the Greener Reefers Transition Alliance, an industry-driven platform initiated under the Greener Reefers project. The Alliance brings together shipping lines, logistics operators, technology providers, and foundations to collectively demonstrate, scale, and promote sustainable reefer technologies across international markets.

Key areas of cooperation include:

  • Active participation in the Greener Reefers Transition Alliance

  • Joint development of resources for the SFC community as well as Green Cooling Initiative platform

  • Enhancing the calculation of emissions mitigation potential during reefer voyages by refining variables such as fuel types and voyage durations, giving valuable insights into the GLEC Framework default values

  • Dissemination of findings and market upscaling, including assessment of new strategic alliances with further industry stakeholders

This partnership reinforces the shared commitment of GIZ and SFC to support innovative, data-driven, and environmentally sound logistics solutions that contribute to climate goals and sustainable development worldwide.

About GIZ

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is a federal enterprise with worldwide operations. It supports the German Government in the field of international cooperation for sustainable development. It is also engaged in education activities around the globe. GIZ assists people and societies in shaping their own future and improving their living conditions.

About Smart Freight Centre (SFC)

Smart Freight Centre (SFC) is a globally active non-profit organization for climate action in the freight sector. Our goal is to mobilize the global logistics ecosystem, in particular our members and partners, in tracking and reducing its greenhouse gas emissions. We accelerate the reduction of logistics emissions to achieve a zero-emission global logistics sector by 2050 or earlier, consistent with 1.5° pathways

Media Contacts:

GIZ

Ms Lydia Ondraczek (lydia.ondraczek@giz.de )

Smart Freight Centre
 communications@smartfreightcentre.org

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