Tokyo, Dublin – 19 May 2026 – ITOCHU Corporation, the leading Japanese trading and investment company, and Future Energy Global (FEG), a pioneer in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) market scaling, have completed an innovative trade of SAF Environmental Attributes.
This co-operation brings together ITOCHU’s trading expertise and global network, and Future Energy Global’s detailed knowledge of the SAF market, allowing ITOCHU to continue to contribute to the sustainable development of society.
Sustainable Aviation Fuel is expected to deliver around two-thirds of the aviation sector’s required emissions reductions to reach net zero by 2050, but production must scale more than 400-fold to meet demand. One of the most effective ways to develop the SAF market is through the so-called Book and Claim system, which allows the Environmental Attributes (emissions savings) of SAF to be traded separately from the fuel molecules, as in this case.
In this transaction, ITOCHU supplied the physical fuel to an airline at Tokyo Narita Airport and provided the Environmental Attributes of that fuel to Future Energy Global, for use by FEG’s airline and corporate clients. These attributes were generated entirely within the additionality market, representing voluntary emissions reductions achieved without reliance on mandates or subsidies.
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol defines different “scopes” of responsibility for emissions. Under standard carbon accounting principles, the Scope 1 attributes can be used by aircraft operators to compensate for their flight emissions, and the Scope 3 attributes can be used by companies to compensate for their business travel emissions.
Book and Claim systems require robust registry infrastructure to trace each transaction and to ensure the emissions savings are credible and only claimed once. The ITOCHU/Future Energy Global transaction was registered on the Assure SAF Registry, a leading digital inventory management and registry platform for tracking, verifying, and enabling the transfer and retirement of physical fuel as well as SAF environmental attributes with transparent, audit-ready assurance across the aviation value chain.
“It is an honour to carry out this first transaction with ITOCHU, with its long history and commitment to sustainability,” said Natasha Mann, CEO and Co-Founder of Future Energy Global. “Our companies share a vision of a more sustainable future, and we are very happy to be able to work together with ITOCHU to scale up Sustainable Aviation Fuel use.”
“We appreciate the opportunity to collaborate with Future Energy Global to commercialise the environmental attributes of SAF used in Japan,” said Taisuke Tsurukubo, General Manager of ITOCHU’s Fuel Trade & Project Section. “We look forward to developing this business relationship and to working co-operatively to reduce aviation emissions further.”
“This transaction underscores the importance of trusted registry systems in scaling SAF adoption. Assure provides the traceability, flexibility, and security needed to enable credible, transferable environmental attributes within the SAF ecosystem,” said Kennedy Ricci, CEO and President of 4AIR, operators of the Assure SAF Registry.
