How to Sell Sustainable Aviation Fuel Certificates
Estimated reading time: 10 minutes
To sell sustainable aviation fuel certificates, find companies with relevant aviation activity, establish how they intend to use the certificates, and qualify a purchase your supply can support. Then reach the people who control the travel or freight program, its climate reporting and its budget.
Start by choosing the transaction you want to win:
| Buyer context | Research first | Resolve before proposing a purchase |
|---|---|---|
| Corporate business travel | Travel disclosures, airline relationships, previous SAF purchases | Program owner, intended claims, purchasing window and budget |
| Shipper buying air freight | Air-freight activity, forwarder relationships, relevant procurement plans | Which entity buys transport, which flows are in scope and who receives the attributes |
| Freight forwarder offering SAF-backed services | Existing customer programs, carrier arrangements, allocation process | Rights, documentation and responsibilities across the carrier, forwarder and shipper |
| Previous SAF certificate buyer | Disclosed purchase terms and your CRM history | Renewal timing, remaining commitments and criteria for additional supply |
For a first campaign:
- Select travel or freight buyers that match your offer and delivery window.
- Record one verified account signal and the questions it leaves unanswered.
- Find the operating owner, sustainability reviewer and procurement route.
- Offer a small, useful next step, such as reviewing an evidence pack.
- Measure which conversations become an agreed evaluation and a purchase.
The market in October 2026
Corporate SAF buying is real, but supply and purchasing routes remain uneven. In June, IATA projected around 2.4 million tonnes of global SAF production in 2026, only 0.8% of aviation fuel use. That is a forecast for physical fuel, not the corporate certificate market. Meanwhile, Google announced a multiyear agreement with American Airlines in June 2026, and SABA's fourth procurement RFI seeks information about 2028–2030 supply through non-binding market scoping. Match the buyer's decision window to a specific offer; a request for supplier information is not an order.
Size the market you can actually serve
A global SAF production estimate will not tell your sales team how many companies can buy your certificates. Build the total addressable market around eligible corporate accounts and the contracts you could offer them.
Separate business travel, direct shippers and forwarders. Within each group, record:
- The purchasing entity and geographic coverage.
- Evidence of aviation activity or previous SAF participation.
- The program, delivery period and certificate arrangements your offer supports.
- A plausible annual contract value from your own priced scenarios.
- The assumptions that still need a buyer's confirmation.
Use the resulting account count and contract-value ranges to estimate opportunity. Keep the wider addressable market separate from accounts with confirmed fit and a current purchasing window. Deduplicate corporate groups and intermediary relationships: a forwarder's customer and the same customer's travel team do not automatically represent independent budgets.
Forecast renewals, near-term purchases and future supply commitments separately.
Avoid estimating demand by multiplying a company's total emissions by your price. First establish the aviation activity in scope, the applicable calculation method, the purchasing entity and the volume it wants to evaluate. State whether your quote prices fuel volume, certificate units or the associated emissions outcome.
Qualify the certificate and the intended claim together
A corporate customer can buy attributes associated with SAF without receiving that fuel on its own flight or shipment. RSB explains book and claim as a chain-of-custody model that separates attributes from physical supply through registry records. Explain that distinction early.
Prepare a qualification file that answers six questions:
| Question | Evidence to prepare or request |
|---|---|
| What is being purchased? | Physical fuel, a certificate, or a transport service with an allocated SAF benefit |
| Which fuel supports it? | Producer, pathway, feedstock, sustainability certification and production or supply period |
| How is the benefit calculated? | Lifecycle data, comparator, units and calculation boundaries |
| Who owns the attributes? | Transfer records, registry arrangements, retirement beneficiary and contractual rights |
| What else has been claimed? | Relevant compliance use, incentives and other claims against the same underlying fuel |
| How will the buyer report it? | Intended disclosure, chosen framework and the evidence its reviewers require |
RSB's June 2026 accounting guidance distinguishes physical emissions from book-and-claim disclosures and examines consistency across the aviation value chain. It is useful preparation for buyer diligence. It does not remove the need to establish the buyer's own reporting approach.
Check the actual scheme and document version behind an offer. For example, SABA's sustainability framework page distinguishes an adopted framework from a consultation draft. A draft's proposed wording should not become an unconditional sales promise.
Defer an account when its required evidence, supply window or intended use falls outside your offer. Resolve unclear attribute ownership before outreach becomes a price negotiation. Do not promise that every certificate will reduce every buyer's reported Scope 3 inventory or meet every target framework.
Keep regional demand and corporate buying separate
| Market | Relevant context | Sales implication |
|---|---|---|
| EU | ReFuelEU Aviation places SAF supply requirements on aviation fuel suppliers. European Commission | Establish how your voluntary corporate offer relates to the underlying fuel and its compliance treatment. |
| UK | The SAF Mandate obligates fuel supply and awards tradable compliance certificates. Department for Transport | Identify the instrument being sold. A UK compliance certificate and a corporate SAF certificate have different purposes. |
| US | Google's June 2026 announcement documents a corporate agreement alongside airline and producer supply arrangements. Google | Research the customer's existing program and commitments before assuming an additional buying opportunity. |
| Canada | Air Canada and Airbus announced a five-year corporate travel agreement in July 2026, with verified SAF environmental attributes. Air Canada | Check program access, carrier relationships, allocation and the corporate customer's purchasing entity. |
Find the people who can advance the purchase
For travel, start with the corporate travel or travel procurement team. For freight, start with logistics procurement or the team managing the forwarder relationship. Then map the other decisions around that owner.
| Stakeholder | Decision to understand | Useful material |
|---|---|---|
| Travel or logistics owner | Activity covered, supplier relationships and program priorities | A purchase scenario tied to the actual program |
| Sustainability or climate team | Intended use, calculation method and reporting approach | Methodology, lifecycle data and sample disclosure |
| Procurement and legal | Supplier selection, rights, delivery obligations and contract terms | A clear commercial scope and evidence responsibilities |
| Finance or budget sponsor | Funding source, commitment length and approval timing | Volume, price assumptions and payment schedule |
| Reporting or assurance reviewer | Traceability and support for the proposed disclosure | Sample transfer and retirement records |
Find current responsibilities through company reports, team pages, procurement documents and professional profiles. Record the evidence for each role. Ask your first contact who owns the purchase and who needs to review the claim. A senior sustainability title alone does not establish either responsibility.
Write messages around a decision the buyer recognizes
Consider an illustrative multinational manufacturer. Its FY2025 report describes an air-freight program and a previous SAF purchase through a forwarder. You sell certificates for a future supply period.
The report establishes prior participation. It does not establish whether the next purchase is open, which business units participate, or whether the forwarder controls supplier selection. Check those points before treating the company as a qualified opportunity.
An unsent cold-email example:
Subject: Evidence for your next freight SAF review
Your FY2025 report describes a SAF purchase through your air-freight program. We offer SAF certificates with feedstock, lifecycle and retirement documentation for corporate buyers.
Is your logistics team reviewing additional supply periods, or does that sit with your forwarder? I can send a sample evidence pack for the team handling the review.
The message connects a documented action to an offer and a question about the purchasing route. It gives the buyer a useful response even when the recipient is not the purchaser. Replace the illustrative facts with verified account evidence before using it.
For travel buyers, use travel-program evidence. A new airline agreement may justify asking where SAF evaluation sits within that relationship. It does not justify claiming that the company needs an independent certificate provider.
Follow up with something that advances the evaluation: a sample retirement record, a supply-period comparison or a precise question about the reporting requirement. Keep supplier capabilities and claimed experience within what your team can substantiate.
Revive the CRM when the original blocker changes
Group dormant opportunities by why they stopped: budget, supply timing, certificate eligibility, reporting uncertainty, contracting or an incumbent agreement. Check the account owner and previous conversation before contacting anyone.
A revised evidence pack may reopen a documentation discussion. It will not resolve a budget objection by itself. Match the new information to the recorded blocker.
An unsent CRM revival example:
When we last spoke, your reporting team wanted to review the retirement documents before considering a purchase. We can now provide the sample pack discussed.
Would it help to review that with your reporting colleague before returning to volumes and price?
Use this only when the history and new material are real. If an account remains committed elsewhere, record the appropriate review window. Keep active opportunities coordinated with their owners and respect exclusions and stop requests.
Find connections that reach the right program
Build a relationship map alongside the account list. Include travel management companies, airline corporate teams, freight forwarders, existing customers and advisers involved in relevant reporting work.
Prioritize a connection when it has access to your target program, understands a current decision and can introduce the responsible person. Give additional priority to relationships that reach several qualified accounts. A forwarder with a relevant shipper program can be more useful than a broad list of sustainability executives.
Make the introduction specific: who you want to meet, which offer fits, and what the recipient could evaluate. Agree the commercial relationship and permitted information sharing. Track direct buyers, referral partners and resellers separately so a useful introduction does not become a duplicate opportunity.
Work conferences around travel and freight buyers
Choose events for the buyer you need. Business Travel Show Europe focuses on corporate travel. TIACA's Air Cargo Forum brings together the air-cargo community, including forwarders, shippers and airlines. The relevant conversations differ: travel-program priorities at one event, logistics relationships and customer allocation at another.
Before an event, qualify accounts and distinguish potential buyers from carriers, partners and competitors. Use speaker and exhibitor information as research leads. Confirm the contact's attendance separately, then suggest a short conversation about one program question.
Give the attending rep a brief with the observed signal, existing relationship and missing qualification facts. Afterward, follow up on the actual discussion and promised material. Record an introduction to the reporting team differently from a purchase evaluation. Emitree's conference outreach service connects that preparation and follow-up to the client's sales team.
Track the path from outreach to purchase
Define reply rate by channel and cohort. For email, divide unique replying contacts by unique contacts receiving a delivered message. For LinkedIn, specify the messaged-contact denominator and measure connection acceptance separately. Track positive replies as their own outcome.
| Measure | What to record |
|---|---|
| Interested replies | Unique contacts expressing relevant interest, divided by contacts reached in the same channel |
| Useful referrals | Contacts directing you to the responsible team, recorded separately from purchase interest |
| Meetings held | Completed conversations, separate from bookings and cancellations |
| Evaluations started | Accounts agreeing to review a defined offer and evidence pack |
| Qualified opportunities | Purchasing entity, fit, supply period, decision process and next step |
| Contracted business | Signed value and volume, with units and delivery period stated |
| Won revenue | Recognized sales outcomes, separate from uncommitted pipeline and future delivery obligations |
Tag travel or freight, region, buyer type, supply period, offering, stakeholder, channel and campaign. Link intermediary and corporate accounts without counting the same purchase twice. Preserve the original campaign and later conference or referral touches in the CRM.
Review failed evaluations as carefully as replies. Repeated problems with reporting eligibility call for different targeting or evidence. Repeated budget objections may require another purchase structure. Compare cohorts with similar time to progress through diligence. The campaign analytics guide explains how to connect outreach activity with later commercial outcomes.
Pair your sales team with a technically capable GTM team
Emitree's research and outreach for corporate SAF offers starts with what you sell: your program, supply period, buyer criteria and supporting evidence. We combine public research with the CRM history and private information you share, check relevant contacts, and run email and LinkedIn campaigns in your voice. The work includes new accounts, CRM revival, valuable connections and conferences.
Think of it as a go-to-market team with technical know-how working alongside your sales team. Our proposition is the work of four BDRs across research, qualification, messaging and outreach for the price of one junior BDR. Pricing is scoped to your offering, markets and workload. When someone replies, we pause the sequence and hand the conversation and research to your team. Your reps lead meetings, detailed diligence and contracting.
Emitree reports 3–7% cold email reply rates and 14–22% LinkedIn reply rates across clients' sustainability campaigns. If your campaigns currently return 0.45% on email and 3% on LinkedIn, measured on the same basis, those ranges are roughly 7–16× and 5–7×, respectively. These are all replies, not sector-specific results or positive-reply rates. Compare rates using the same denominator.
Strong outreach starts with evidence of fit. For SAF certificates, that means checking the travel or freight footprint, claim requirements, procurement timing and budget responsibility. That is the preparation an expert BDR would do with enough time to research each account. Emitree makes that preparation the default. Automating delivery does not replace this work.
Dependable sales intelligence gives a rep an accurate account of what is known and what needs a conversation. Campaign reporting then shows which buyer groups, industries and outreach approaches justify further effort. Start with one program and one defined supply window. Build the account list around the evidence a buyer would need to evaluate that offer.
