New data shows 19 of 34 shipowners and charterers in climate alignment initiative have reduced emission intensity over the last year.
Signatories were still 12% behind the minimum international climate goals set by the IMO in 2024, up from 9% the previous year.
This year saw significant increase in transparency from signatories, with over 90% leveraging third-party verification to ensure quality data and robust results.
Copenhagen, 12 June 2025 – According to its most recent disclosure report, the majority of signatories to the Sea Cargo Charter (SCC) – a global climate alignment initiative developed by the Global Maritime Forum – reduced their emission intensity over the last year, reflecting the growing maturity, ambition and transparency of the charter. However, action will need to accelerate to keep up with the ambitious emission reduction targets set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), which become more stringent year-on-year.
The 2025 Sea Cargo Charter Annual Disclosure Report, released today, is a testament to the hard work signatories are doing to not only reduce their emission intensity, but also to take a data-driven and transparent approach to disclosing their climate alignment. The 34 leading charters and shipowners featured in the report represent around 18% of global wet and dry bulk cargo transported by sea in 2024.
This is the second year signatories have reported against the steeper climate alignment trajectories and conditions set out in the 2023 IMO GHG Strategy. Despite these challenges, 19 of 34 signatories reduced their emission intensity over the last year, eight improved their climate alignment scores, and several have reported enhanced integration of emissions metrics into operational and chartering decisions.
Signatories were on average 12% behind the minimum international climate goals and 18% behind the striving targets in 2024. Ten signatories reported being 10% behind or less, five were aligned with the minimum trajectory, and three were aligned with the striving trajectory.
"The Sea Cargo Charter continues to be a powerful enabler of progress, helping the maritime industry translate climate ambition into concrete action," said Engebret Dahm, Sea Cargo Charter vice chair and CEO of Klaveness Combination Carriers. "This year’s results demonstrate that even as the IMO’s climate goals grow more ambitious, signatories are stepping up with greater transparency, operational improvements, and data integrity. The Charter is not just a reporting tool—it is a stepping stone toward achieving the IMO’s Greenhouse Gas Strategy and Global Transport Zero Framework."
External conditions continue to impact climate alignment scores. Operational barriers such as regional port limitations (e.g. draft restrictions), challenging weather patterns, inefficient routing, and reliance on short-term charters contributed to alignment shortfalls.
Nevertheless, signatories have made notable strides in improving data quality and transparency. Over 90% of the 2024 data was verified by third parties, up from 50% the year before, demonstrating increased commitment to credible, science-aligned reporting.
"Beyond measuring and reporting, the Sea Cargo Charter fosters trust and collaboration, with signatories actively shaping the initiative and learning from one another through open dialogue and shared insights,” said Dahm. "Voluntary initiatives like ours remain essential to driving meaningful progress and collaboration across the sector, particularly as industry targets become more ambitious, and I'm proud to see our signatories continuing to lead by example."
The 2025 Sea Cargo Charter Annual Disclosure Report was produced by the Global Maritime Forum, which performs secretariat services with expert support provided by UMAS and the Smart Freight Centre.
Media contact: Nicole Schlichting, Senior Communications Manager (interim)
M: +45 31 26 19 25
E: nsc@globalmaritimeforum.org
Note to the editor
The Sea Cargo Charter strives to align with the latest science on emission reporting. While signatories reported their activities against the same ambition as last year, the trajectories and emission factors have been updated for this year’s report. Therefore, signatories recalculated last year’s climate alignment scores using the updated trajectories and emission factors to allow for a meaningful comparison between this year’s scores and last year’s scores. This means that the average shortfall against climate targets of +17% in 2023 was converted to +9% in this year’s report.
About the Sea Cargo Charter
The Sea Cargo Charter is a global framework for assessing and disclosing the climate alignment of chartering activities. It establishes a common, global baseline to quantitatively assess and disclose whether chartering activities are in line with climate goals set by the UN maritime agency, the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The IMO revised greenhouse gas (GHG) strategy adopted during MEPC80 in July 2023 sets a new ambition to reach net-zero GHG emissions from international shipping by or around, i.e. close to, 2050. The Sea Cargo Charter has recently aligned its ambition with these latest goals by agreeing to report in 2024 and onwards against (i) a full decarbonisation target in 2050, (ii) interim targets in 2030 and 2040 and (iii) the consideration of lifecycle emissions of fuels including further greenhouse gas (GHG) species.
The Sea Cargo Charter is one of three initiatives based on the same four Principles and developed with the Global Maritime Forum. Together with the Poseidon Principles and the Poseidon Principles for Marine Insurance, they share a common objective: fostering transparency on emissions reporting with the aim of contributing to reducing carbon emissions. Learn more.