EU-linked CO2 emissions hit record high last year - T&E
EU-linked shipping carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions jumped by 13% last year as vessels sailed longer routes around Africa to avoid the Red Sea, Transport & Environment (T&E) said in its analysis of EU official data.
CHART: CO2 emissions from ships sailing between, to or from EU ports rose to a new high last year, despite less volumes of goods handled in ports. Transport & Environment
At around 145 million mtCO2, EU-linked shipping emissions rose to their highest level since mandatory reporting began in 2018, T&E said.
The data was collected by the EU as part of its Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) regulation.
The MRV requires cargo and passenger ships of 5,000 gross tonnage (GT) or more calling at EU ports to report their annual CO2 emissions.
2024 was the first year that ships had to report their methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, in addition to CO2, so the data only makes it possible to compare CO2 emissions from 2023 with CO2 emissions from 2024.
The regulation was expanded this year to include general cargo ships from 400-5,000 GT and offshore ships of 400 GT and above.
T&E said the rise in CO2 emissions in 2024 came despite a fall in EU-related seaborne trade during the year, as ships took longer routes around Africa to avoid disruptions in the Red Sea. This reduced port calls in some EU ports, but increased sailing distances and fuel consumption to and from other EU ports.
The biggest CO2 emissions increase came from container ships (46%). Container ship emissions rose from 37 million mtCO2 in 2023 to 55 million mtCO2 in 2024. These ships sailed 18% farther and 3% faster on average, T&E’s analysis said. A 1% increase in vessel speed can result in a 3% increase in emissions, the report said.
The analysis of the data reported by the vessels showed container carrier Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) as the region’s most polluting shipping firm, emitting 15.6 million mtCO2-equivalent (mtCO2e). MSC is also the world's biggest shipping company in tonnage.
Among other container lines, Maersk followed with 10.7 million mtCO2e, CMA CGM with 8.29 million mtCO2e, Hapag-Lloyd with 5.23 million mtCO2e and China COSCO Shipping with 5.1 million mtCO2e.
Carnival ranked highest among cruise operators calling at EU ports, with around 2.5 million mtCO2e emitted in 2024.
Oil and gas carriers made up around a fifth of EU-linked CO2e emissions in 2024, the analysis showed. Crude oil tanker emissions climbed to their highest level since 2019, while emissions from LNG carriers fell.
By Nachiket Tekawade
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