Shipping

Long-term emissions reduction relies on clean hydrogen fuels like ammonia and methanol, while short-term solutions include LNG and biofuels.

Performance summary

– The absolute direct CO2e emissions for shipping were 0.87 Gt in 2019, decreasing to 0.80 Gt in 2020, then increasing to 0.84 Gt in 2022 and 0.86 Gt in 2023.¹⁵⁴ Thus, there has been a 2% increase in absolute CO2e emissions from 2022 to 2023.

– The industry has reduced emission intensity by 4.6% in the 2019-2023 period.¹⁵⁵ This is mainly driven by speed reduction (slow steaming) especially in bulk carriers, chemical tankers and oil tankers, increase in average ship size, and improvements in ship design efficiency. However, emission intensity increased by 1% from 2022 to 2023 due to the use of inefficient routes and port congestion.

Future emissions trajectory

– As per the IEA’s Stated Policies Scenario, which is considered to be the business-as-usual scenario, the absolute CO2e emissions are expected to be 0.90 Gt in 2030 (5% increase vs. 2023), 0.85 Gt in 2040 (0.2% decrease vs. 2023), and 0.80 Gt in 2050 (7% decrease vs. 2023).¹⁵⁶

– The 2023 IMO GHG-reduction strategy, which is considered to be the net-zero emissions scenario, aims for at least 20%, striving for a 30% reduction in total annual GHG emissions by 2030 (vs. 2008) and net-zero emissions by or around 2050 for the shipping industry.¹⁵⁷ It also aims for at least 5%, striving for 10% of fuel used by the shipping industry to be zero or near-zero-emission fuels (ZEFs) by 2030.¹⁵⁸

Readiness key takeaways

Sector priorities

Note: This page presents a condensed summary of the sector’s performance, for a complete view, including on the sector’s readiness for the energy transition, please view the sector PDF here.