Calculating Maritime Shipping Emissions

This research paper introduces a method for calculating and attributing maritime shipping emissions by linking shipping manifests with Automatic Identification System (AIS) data. Using 2014 Brazilian exports as a case study, the paper demonstrates that shipping emissions for these exports added 5% to Brazil's World Bank reported CO2 totals, with iron ores and soybeans being major contributors.

• Maritime shipping emissions were estimated at approximately 1 billion tonnes of CO2 annually by 2012, accounting for about 3% of man-made emissions. Without intervention, this share of total emissions could increase to 20% by 2050.
• The lack of reliable emissions data and the difficulty of attributing responsibility to specific countries, companies, and commodities have hindered the inclusion of maritime shipping in global climate mitigation strategies. There is also a concern that focusing on these emissions might negatively impact global trade.
• A case study of Brazilian exports in 2014 demonstrated that maritime shipping of these goods generated 25.99 million tonnes of CO2. This figure represents an additional 5% over the total CO2 emissions for Brazil reported by the World Bank, which had excluded international shipping and aviation. The study identified iron ores and soybeans as commodities and routes with the largest emission shares.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2018). Calculating Maritime Shipping Emissions. https://www.sei.org/publications/calculating-maritime-shipping-emissions/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Calculating Maritime Shipping Emissions. 2018. https://www.sei.org/publications/calculating-maritime-shipping-emissions/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Calculating Maritime Shipping Emissions |date=17 September 2018 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/calculating-maritime-shipping-emissions/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2018calculating, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Calculating Maritime Shipping Emissions}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2018}, month = sep, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/calculating-maritime-shipping-emissions/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }