The first annual exercise assessing UK ports’ efforts in decarbonising has revealed extraordinary emissions reductions despite continued difficulties in securing new and upgraded grid connections.
On Clean Maritime Day as part of London International Shipping Week, the British Ports Association (BPA) has published its 2025 Sustainability Report outlining findings from the BPA Net Zero Maturity Assessment Tool, which highlights that UK ports are making strong and measurable progress on their journey towards net-zero.
The tool tracks the sector’s long-term progress across eight key indicators of decarbonisation, including environmental management practices, target setting, emissions reductions, investments in infrastructure, progress reporting and transparency, and stakeholder engagement.
The assessment is designed to provide a consistent way for ports to measure progress over time and demonstrate their commitment to achieving net zero. One of the key milestones captured by the tool will be the ability for ports to report when they have successfully reached net-zero.
Findings from this first round of reporting show that ports are:
- Engaging effectively with both public and private stakeholders, strengthening collaboration across the sector.
- Achieving real emissions reductions, with an average 20% reduction in scope 1 and 2 emissions between 2022 and 2023.
- Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) is currently the most widely used alternative fuel, supporting the view that biofuels will play an important role as a transitional fuel in ports on the path to net-zero.
However, the report also highlights that challenges remain. In particular, high costs and limited grid capacity are constraining ports’ ability to accelerate emissions reductions. These barriers affect not only ports’ own operations, but also the provision of transformative technologies such as shore power.
Overall, the commitment from UK ports to apply this tool and report on their progress highlights the sector’s determination to meet its overarching decarbonisation targets whilst continuing to address the significant challenges ahead.
“The Net Zero Maturity Assessment Tool not only helps individual ports track self-assess anonymously against their peers, but it also builds a collective picture of how the sector is transitioning. By sharing successes and identifying challenges, ports are taking bold steps towards a sustainable and net zero future.
“The hope is that, over time, the tool will offer an increasingly detailed picture of the industry’s progress and serve as a benchmark for sustainability performance in the years ahead.”
22 ports participated in the first annual exercise. The BPA is expecting more to join in the next year and the tool itself will be refined and improved by an industry steering group. The full report has been made available to participating ports who can anonymously see how their efforts compare with peers. This is an all industry exercise developed by the BPA and supported by UK Major Ports Group.