Maritime decarbonisation strategy and calls for evidence
Source: gov.uk (2025-03-25)

Minister for Aviation, Maritime and Security sets out the government’s vision for the future of the UK’s maritime sector.

By publishing our new Maritime decarbonisation strategy (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/maritime-decarbonisation-strategy) today, the government has set out plans to encourage and support our maritime sector in using fuels of the future and shipping ‘chargepoints’ to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The maritime decarbonisation strategy sets out the government’s vision for the future of the UK’s maritime sector, by setting new domestic decarbonisation goals for a 30% reduction by 2030 and an 80% reduction by 2040 (both relative to 2008) and outlines our key policies to meet them.

To support this, we are also publishing 2 supplementary calls for evidence: on Net zero ports (https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/net-zero-ports-challenges-and-opportunities) and on Smaller vessels – measures for small, sub-400 gross tonnage (GT) vessels and accelerating uptake in targeted subsectors (https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/decarbonising-smaller-vessels). These calls for evidence will allow us to gather evidence to provide a more holistic understanding of the current state of play of the maritime sector and how to decarbonise the sector moving forward.

In 2019, the UK domestic maritime sector produced around eight million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, on a fuel lifecycle basis. Decarbonisation of our maritime sector will support this government’s missions: driving the uptake of clean fuels and energy helping to make Britain a clean energy superpower, seizing the green growth opportunities which will help to kickstart economic growth, and realise the co-benefits that reducing emissions can have for health, supporting our health mission, in line with our Plan for Change (https://www.gov.uk/missions). It is conservatively estimated that the decarbonisation of the UK maritime sector could support £130 million to £180 million of gross value added (GVA) and around 1,400 to 2,100 jobs in the UK on average in each year between now and 2050. This is in respect to the provision of on-board technologies, fuel storage and engines alone. The investments required on land to support the decarbonisation of the sector, including the production of zero and near-zero GHG emission fuels and energy are also expected to further drive growth in the UK, and deliver energy security.

This ambitious, but credible and evidence-based maritime decarbonisation strategy is based on a state-of-the-art maritime emissions model, representing a significant step change in our ability to estimate the emissions from the UK maritime sector. Responses from the 2 calls for evidence will also inform the development of the maritime emissions model as we look to increase our understanding of how to decarbonise maritime.

Maritime decarbonisation strategy

The maritime decarbonisation strategy (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/maritime-decarbonisation-strategy) outlines this government’s vision for the how maritime sector can decarbonise. The strategy sets new goals for domestic maritime emissions, aiming for zero fuel lifecycle GHG emissions by 2050, with at least a 30% reduction by 2030 and an 80% reduction by 2040, relative to 2008 levels. These interim goals are aligned with the level of highest ambition of the 2023 IMO’s GHG strategy, allowing us to take pragmatic action domestically whilst continuing to push for high ambition internationally.

These goals highlight our commitment to decarbonising the maritime sector and will provide the industry with the certainty it needs to invest, playing its part in kickstarting economic growth and making Britain a clean energy superpower.

The Strategy will cover 5 key policies to drive decarbonisation from now to 2050:

Fuel regulation. Alongside a fuel standard being developed at the International Maritime Organization (IMO), we will, subject to consultation next year, introduce domestic fuel regulations to drive the uptake of zero and near-zero GHG emission fuels and energy sources.

Emissions pricing. The UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) will be expanded to include UK domestic maritime GHG emissions from 2026. At the IMO, we are also continuing to push for emissions pricing through a global shipping levy, introduced from 2027.

Ports and emissions at berth. We are considering further action to reduce emissions at berth and are launching a call for evidence to inform this work alongside the maritime decarbonisation strategy.

Smaller vessels and targeted subsectors. We need to reduce emissions from the whole fleet over time, including smaller vessels. To build our understanding, we are launching a call for evidence to begin this policy development. We are aware that whilst this will be challenging for some sub sectors (such as fishing vessels), there are others that could move quickly (for example, offshore wind vessels).

Energy efficiency. We will support the IMO review of short-term measures to further incentivise energy efficiency and explore domestic energy efficiency measures.

This strategy continues to build on the innovation and expertise developed through our research and development programme UK SHORE, which, as well as accelerating the commercialisation of the future fuels and technologies necessary, positions the UK as a leader in clean maritime development and drives investment into clean maritime technologies. Supporting this will be the MCA’s new UK maritime innovation hub which will encourage innovation, research and development, and support economic growth by helping innovators bring new technologies to safe commercial use in the sector.

Net zero ports call for evidence

This publication will collect evidence to support the government’s consideration of an at-berth emissions requirement (https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/net-zero-ports-challenges-and-opportunities) in the maritime decarbonisation strategy. It looks at the role of ports in enabling shipping to decarbonise and reduce shipping’s wider environmental impacts. This includes providing new infrastructure and aims to capture evidence on the future electricity demand at ports, recognising this is a shared asset to enable ports, shipping and port tenants to decarbonise and capture new commercial and economic opportunities.

The publication also looks at the progress ports are making in decarbonising their own operations and how government could potentially galvanise the sector to decarbonise. We focus on whether ports are planning to decarbonise their own operations, their goals and what they’ve included in their strategies, including wider environmental considerations.

Measures for small, sub-400 GT vessels and accelerating uptake in targeted subsectors call for evidence

This call evidence will provide government with essential information and data to help decarbonise and reduce the environmental impacts of vessels under 400 gross tonnage (https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/decarbonising-smaller-vessels). It asks questions on the costs of these vessels, when the new technologies will be ready, what infrastructure will be required and where these vessels are likely to be built. It seeks to identify which subsectors have a clear decarbonisation pathway and may be able to move quickly. This call for evidence represents a balance between ambition and deliverability, recognising that some subsectors such as fishing will need more time, and that this is the start of a conversation with them. This means we will have a stronger evidence base to make informed policy decisions in the future.

Next steps

Following the publication of the maritime decarbonisation strategy, and the 2 calls for evidence, we will continue to work with the sector to deliver the domestic decarbonisation goals and to reduce wider environmental impacts. We will collect and analyse the responses from the calls for evidence to inform our next steps and will publish a consultation on future UK fuels regulation. Furthermore, we will continue to champion ambitious action at the IMO to drive the global maritime sector towards zero emissions and deliver the IMO GHG 2023 strategy.