The shipping industry and the environment

Even though sea shipping is relatively climate friendly compared to other modes of transport, it is a considerable source of air pollutants. Taking Europe as an example, greenhouse gas emissions from land-based sources have decreased in the region in the last 20 years, but emissions of greenhouse gases from sea shipping have been rising due to the increase in the global trading of goods.

With a continued increase in global trading, and with unchanged legislation, it is estimated that fuel usage and emissions from international shipping will more than double by 2020 within the European Union. Similarly, it is expected that SO₂ and NO_x emissions from international shipping will increase by 40-50% by 2020, as compared to 2000, and even surpass the SO₂ and NO_x emissions from land-based sources in the 27 EU member states combined.

As a result of the volume of sea-borne trade, the shipping industry is increasingly expected to share in the burden of reducing global emissions of CO₂. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is currently debating what measures could be introduced to limit or reduce shipping's emissions of CO₂.