Climate Trouble Ahead: Sailing On Thin Ice on Shipping Emissions
Sailing On Thin Ice: Why Shipping Emissions Are Still A Major Climate Concern breaks down new IMO rules, rerouting impacts, and fuel challenges shaping 2025
Global shipping keeps shelves stocked, but its exhaust still punches above its weight. The sector is responsible for roughly 3% of global greenhouse-gas emissions, and recent disruptions have made the problem louder, not quieter. Longer routes, dirty fuels, and uneven rules mean the “invisible” emissions behind everyday imports are now a visible climate headache.
Regulation Is Catching Up, But Reality Keeps Slipping
In 2025, the International Maritime Organization agreed a “Net-zero Framework” that pairs a mandatory marine-fuel standard with an emissions pricing mechanism, with formal adoption steps set for October 2025 and rules due to bite later in the decade. IMO’s official update.
Meanwhile, Europe has already moved: maritime emissions entered the EU Emissions Trading System with a phase-in that ramps up year by year, and FuelEU Maritime targets the lifecycle climate impact of the energy ships use, including methane.
The Red Sea Reroute Effect: When Geopolitics Adds COâ‚‚
The Red Sea crisis forced many container ships to detour around the Cape of Good Hope, adding days at sea and sharply increasing fuel burn. Analyses have reported jumps of roughly 45% in emissions for some EU-related container routes during the rerouting period, effectively wiping out efficiency gains.
Green Fuels Are Coming, But The Bottlenecks Are Here
Methanol and ammonia vessels are real, yet supply of truly low-carbon fuel, port bunkering, and safety standards are not scaling fast enough. Add methane “slip” concerns with LNG and the rise of scrubbers that keep high-sulphur fuel oil in play, and the transition still looks fragile.
