Delivering short-term climate change mitigation in shipping

Impact: Environmental, Policy

Public summary

International shipping is overwhelmingly reliant on fossil fuels, with annual carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to a country the size of Germany. Actions to reduce its emissions are therefore an important element of global efforts to combat climate change. Furthermore, the science of climate change dictates that deep emission reductions must be delivered in a decadal timescale, pointing towards interventions that focus on existing ships and related port and energy infrastructure. This body of work seeks to influence the targets set by the International Maritime Organisation and the short-term interventions that are invested in and incentives that align with the science of climate change. The long asset lifetimes of ships and shipping infrastructure limit the speed of transition such that a delay of even a few years will dictate an untenable rate of decarbonization and increased risk of pushing the already challenging Paris goals out of reach. Research focusing on a) targets overall at international, EU and UK scales, b) interventions focused on operations (e.g. route optimisation), c) interventions focused on retrofitted technology (e.g. shore power; wind assist propulsion), and d) research into the consequences of different fuel and propulsion choices for existing and future ships, all form a suite of activities that fit with this area of research and potential future impact.
Category of impactEnvironmental, Policy

Research Beacons, Institutes and Platforms

  • Energy

Related content