Shipping and the Environment Climate change and its effect on the environment from greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has become a focal point for many, and there has been a growing recognition of the need to curb human’s impact on the planet. Following a majority United Nations member implementation of the 2015 Paris Agreement which set challenges and goals to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) and GHG emissions, there have been a number of developments from authorities, unions, organisations and other bodies within the Shipping sector which impact the way in which companies will need to carry out business. According to the EU, in 2018 global shipping emissions represented 1076 million tonnes of CO 2 and were responsible for around 2.9% of global emissions caused by humanity's activities. With the risk of an increase in these, the EU adopted their ‘Fit for 55’ package which is a set of proposals to revise and update EU legislation and introduce new initiatives to cut emissions by at least 55% compared with 1990 emissions by 2030 and to reach climate neutrality by 2050. It includes EU ETS, FuelEU and CII ratings, amongst other decarbonisation initiatives. In January 2024 the EU’s Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) was extended to cover CO 2 emissions from all large ships entering EU ports, regardless of the flag they fly. EU ETS operates as a ‘cap and trade’ system: companies have a cap on the total amount of GHG that the entity can emit and this cap will be reduced over time to reduce emissions. Within that cap, allowances can be bought or sold but they must be surrendered at the end of each year to cover vessels’ emissions. Shipping companies will need to ensure that their fleet complies with the obligations of EU ETS and ensure they surrender the required allowances. FuelEU, potentially, has more of a significant impact on the shipping industry. It applies to commercial vessels with a gross tonnage of more than 5,000 used for transport of cargo or passengers, regardless of f