How responsible are ships ultimately for greenhouse gas emissions? New analysis reveals the real footprint of shipping and its role in global emissions.
At a time when the discussion on climate and commercial ship emissions is ongoing, it is reasonable to question the extent to which ships and commercial shipping ultimately contribute to global greenhouse gas emissions.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is expected to vote on the much-discussed Net-Zero Emissions Framework. If approved by a two-thirds majority of IMO member states, the framework will create a roadmap for decarbonizing maritime transport.
In reality, the regulations will set a global precedent, as it will be the first time there are regulations that combine mandatory emission limits and a greenhouse gas pricing mechanism across an entire industrial sector.
At the same time, shipowner reactions to this regulatory framework are intensifying, and frankly, they are not wrong, since once again it seems that shipping is the easy target, first to hide other shortcomings, and second for some to make more money.
But even as this critical decision awaits confirmation, two sustainability researchers are calling for a more detailed discussion on why international shipping should be subjected to these regulations.
Depending on who you ask, there are different justifications for subjecting shipping to environmental regulations. One of the most common reasons is that the shipping industry plays a huge role in the global economy, therefore it is an important pressure point for global climate policy.
To show the impact of shipping on the climate, statistics such as “commercial ships carry 90% of global goods worldwide” have become common. Based on this fact, some activists have recommended that people consume less or even buy products from their local area, as this helps reduce the demand for products transported by commercial cargo ships, thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Unfortunately, this narrative about maritime transport focuses on the highly unequal levels of consumption around the world, which are enabled by international shipping.
In a new research paper for the journal Global Sustainability, Dr. Christiaan De Beukelaer (University of Melbourne) and Professor Philip Steinberg (Durham University), challenge the commonly accepted figures for maritime transport, which are often used to guide environmental campaigns.
“It is often claimed that 90% of goods globally are transported by sea, but the reality is much more nuanced,” Beukelaer stated.
“While ships indeed carry about 80-90% of international trade by weight, they carry only a little over 10% of the 100 billion tons of material footprint of the global economy each year, according to the International Resource Panel (IRP).”
The authors argue that when dealing with environmental processes and impacts, relying solely on the size and scale of systems could be problematic as a starting point for policy arguments.
The same applies to maritime transport. A policy action based on an uncritical assessment of shipping “which carries 90% of everything” could lead to simplistic solutions for the climate.
These include campaigns for a shift to local production and consumption, which may not necessarily reduce shipping emissions. Before a commodity is transported, a significant material footprint is usually created at a local level.
At a global level, shipping contributes 3% of greenhouse gas emissions. But despite being a large and important industry, the majority of the annual material footprint of the global economy is not traded internationally – by ship or other means.
“In the context of the transition from fossil fuels, the oceans and waterways must be safe and reliable conduits for global trade, whether we consider that shipping represents 90% or 10.8% of everything,” the authors concluded.
That there is an inverse relationship between the quantity of goods transported globally and the carbon footprint, I would say, is known even by the last sailor traveling on merchant ships.
Also, it is puzzling why the industry does not agree to reduce speeds as well. I have observed recently that loaded tankers are being chartered at speeds in the order of 13 knots when not long ago they did not exceed 12.5 knots in ballast for them.
For those who do not know, these speeds result in ships emitting even more pollutants.
I therefore conclude that states, together with the IMO, aim to extract as much money as they can from the shipping industry, knowing of course that everything related to shipping involves a lot of money…
