Shipping
Shipping is a major producer of greenhouse gases emissions, yet is not reducing its climate impacts at the pace needed…
What’s the problem?
After years of being neglected by climate strategies, action is now being taken on shipping – but it is not yet enough.
The fuel technologies that are the most sustainable and offer the greatest economic benefits are all derived from green hydrogen.
But they also face the steepest hurdles to development. Meanwhile, policy continues to direct limited resources to non-solutions like biofuels and LNG.
What we do
We’re amplifying the voice of industry leaders to call for EU and UK regulation that would allow them to contribute to combatting climate change and building competitive industry to their full potential.
Read our shipping factsheet for more information.
What’s the problem?
After years of being neglected by climate strategies, action is now being taken on shipping – but it is not yet enough.
The fuel technologies that are the most sustainable and offer the greatest economic benefits are all derived from green hydrogen.
But they also face the steepest hurdles to development. Meanwhile, policy continues to direct limited resources to non-solutions like biofuels and LNG.
What we do
We’re amplifying the voice of industry leaders to call for EU and UK regulation that would allow them to contribute to combatting climate change and building competitive industry to their full potential.
Read our shipping factsheet for more information.
Our members and knowledge partners
Shipping in the EU
The European Union has been a global leader in regulation to cut shipping emissions, with the emissions trading system (ETS) and FuelEU Maritime forming its central pillars.
However, the most sustainable maritime fuels are not being developed or adopted at the scale or pace needed. In addition, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) net-zero framework agreed in April 2025 will not fill in these gaps alone.
Policy must be strengthened to accelerate the maritime transition.
Featured work
TThe Clean Industrial Deal is set to drive European competitiveness through the green transition — and shipping and aviation offer key opportunities.
The most sustainable scalable solutions for these sectors are derived from green hydrogen, and also have the greatest potential for energy security and long-term industrial competitiveness.
Read our recommendations for how the Clean Industrial Deal should capture these opportunities by expanding the ETS, strengthening fuel targets and supporting zero-carbon emission technologies and e-fuels.
Explore our work on EU shipping
Shipping in the UK
The UK’s green shipping policy is dictated by the 2025 Maritime Decarbonisation Strategy, which replaced the Clean Shipping Plan introduced under the previous government in 2019. The new Strategy incorporated the International Maritime Organization (IMO) 2023 Strategy’s emission reduction targets and stated the Department for Transport’s intention to introduce a marine fuel regulation.
But with the IMO’s Net Zero Framework set to fall short of the 2023 Strategy’s targets, the UK must regulate to fill in the gaps in shipping.
Featured work
TThe Clean Industrial Deal is set to drive European competitiveness through the green transition — and shipping and aviation offer key opportunities.
The most sustainable scalable solutions for these sectors are derived from green hydrogen, and also have the greatest potential for energy security and long-term industrial competitiveness.
Read our recommendations for how the Clean Industrial Deal should capture these opportunities by expanding the ETS, strengthening fuel targets and supporting zero-carbon emission technologies and e-fuels.