Transport & Environment (T&E) reported that in 2024 emissions from maritime transport in the European Union have reached the highest levels since the EU mandatory reporting of ship emissions of greenhouse gases in 2018. The European Association, which promotes the sustainability of the transport system in Europe, has specified that the official data of the EU MRV system, the monitoring, reporting and verification of CO2 emissions from ships over 5,000 tons gross emissions, indicate that in 2024 emissions from maritime transport increased by +13%, and despite the fact that the concomitant decline in trade by sea.

T&E specified that container ships were the main cause of the increase in emissions, with an increase in +46%, and that this is probably explained by an increase in by +18% in the average distance traveled by these ships and by a +3% average growth in operating speeds, as well as an increase in the number of ships needed to serve more due to the interruption of ship transits in the Red Sea. The association recalled that emissions from maritime transport They are very sensitive to operating speeds, as Each +1% increase in ship speed can lead to a +3% increase in emissions.

Highlighting that the ETS which has been extended to the shipping sector with effect since the beginning of 2024, is proving effective with about 99% compliance in the first year of application, T&E reiterated its proposal to extend the system even to smaller ships. "Pollution record last year - said Agathe Peigney, head of of the association's maritime transport policies - shows that even when trade declines, disruptions to traffic can lead to an increase in ship emissions. With the inadequate IMO agreement set aside - pointed out, referring to the recent postponement of a year's vote on the Strategy for the decarbonization of shipping at The International Maritime Organization ( of 17 October 2025) - the carbon price in the ETS is never was so crucial."