Amidst a challenging year for the shipping industry, signatories of the Sea Cargo Charter (SCC), a voluntary global transparency initiative, continued their reporting and benchmarking of emission performance and kept average alignment with the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) climate goals stable year-on-year.

Released today, the 2026 Sea Cargo Charter Annual Disclosure Report reveals that the 32 charterers, shipowners, and operators behind the initiative, collectively representing around 14% of global seaborne trade, are 11.6% behind the IMO’s minimum trajectory on average, a slight improvement on 2024 (12.2%). Of the 29 signatories who also reported in 2024, a majority (20) reduced their emission intensity in 2025. These results are particularly notable given that these reductions occurred against the backdrop of 2025’s geopolitical turbulence, supply chain challenges, and regulatory uncertainty, and considering IMO climate goals grow steeper each year.

Many signatories reported that operational efficiency measures within their own control, such as speed optimisation, weather routing, and live performance monitoring, played a significant role in their 2025 emission reductions. Systemic constraints and external conditions, however, continue to limit how much they can decarbonise on their own without regulatory-driven incentives.

“It is a very positive sign that Sea Cargo Charter signatories did not let their decarbonisation efforts slip over what was an incredibly tumultuous period for the sector, especially in light of the additional efforts needed each year to get closer to the increasingly ambitious trajectories,” said James Lewis, Chair of the Sea Cargo Charter and Global Head of Operations at Cargill Ocean Transportation. “However, this ability to keep scores stable is not guaranteed in the future. Although signatories remain committed to their decarbonisation efforts, the IMO’s climate alignment goals will become progressively further out of reach without the tangible incentives and level playing field that a global regulatory framework would deliver.”

Currently in its sixth year of operation, the SCC has become a well-recognised framework for voluntarily measuring, reducing, and reporting emission reductions in chartering. In the spirit of moving beyond transparency towards implementation, the SCC has expanded its focus over the last year to better foster collaboration and co-opetition between signatories. The 2026 annual disclosure report reflects that new focus, highlighting successful decarbonisation efforts, relevant business cases, and outcomes of knowledge-sharing sessions.

“The Sea Cargo Charter has evolved to be not only a framework for shipowners and charterers to measure progress and hold themselves accountable, but also a platform for genuine peer-to-peer learning and cross-sector engagement,” said Engebret Dahm, Vice Chair and Treasurer of the Sea Cargo Charter and CEO of Klaveness Combination Carriers. “As we await industry-wide regulation, it’s more critical than ever that shipping companies hold the line on decarbonisation. Voluntary initiatives like ours remain essential to maintaining momentum while providing a clear signal of that private sector commitment.”

Key 2025 results:

• • Of the 29 signatories that also reported their 2024 data, 20 reduced their carbon emission intensity in 2025, compared with 19 out of 33 in the last reporting period.
  • Signatories remain behind both the minimum and striving IMO trajectories, averaging 11.6% behind the minimum (12.2% in 2024) and 18.9% behind the striving (18.1% in 2024).
  • Nearly half of signatories reported being within 10% of the minimum trajectory, and nearly a quarter reported being within 10% of the striving trajectory.
  • Signatories reported on average around 91% of their eligible activities for 2025, with 13 reporting 100% of their activities.

• This is the third year signatories have reported against the steeper climate alignment trajectories set out in the 2023 IMO Greenhouse Gas Strategy.

Source: Global Maritime Forum