International Trade-Related Freight and Associated Emissions by Corridor

As supply chains have become longer and more complex, and logistics networks link more and more economic centres across oceans and continents, freight patterns have accordingly developed. As freight transport relies heavily on fossil fuels, it’s one of the largest areas which contribute towards emissions. It is no surprise, therefore, that international trade contributes to global CO2 emissions mainly via freight transport.

To put this into perspective, transport-related CO2 emissions account for 16% of total global emissions each year. Thus, global emissions from trade-related freight transport currently sits at 7% of the world total and is set to increase fourfold by 2050, in terms of value.