River shipping emits nearly one-quarter of global shipping CO₂, analysis finds
River and canal ships generate roughly a quarter of the world's shipping carbon dioxide emissions, according to new research published in Nature Climate Change. And that's despite the fact that these bodies of water make up less than 1% of Earth's total navigable waterways.
In 2022, inland ships were responsible for approximately 24.7% of global shipping CO2 emissions, emitting around 164 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. This figure represents nearly one-quarter of all shipping emissions worldwide, despite rivers and canals making up less than 1% of Earth's navigable waterways. Researchers from China analyzed 20 billion ship-tracking records from 2019 to 2022, identifying 12,289 rivers and canals with consistent vessel activity.
They overcame tracking limitations, such as incomplete data and inaccurate route calculations, by developing a route reconstruction model. Their findings indicated that emissions nearly doubled between 2019 and 2022, driven largely by increased vessel activity and economic demand, particularly in Asia. Around 69% of these inland emissions came from just 20 major rivers, including the Yangtze, Rhine, Mississippi, and Danube.
Cargo ships accounted for roughly two-thirds of the pollution from inland vessels. Notably, the study found that shipping emissions were about 80% as large as the estimated natural CO2 release from these same navigable rivers. The research highlights the complex interplay between socioeconomic demand and hydroclimatic conditions in determining inland vessel emissions, emphasizing that these waterways serve as hybrid carbon environments where natural processes and human activities coexist at comparable magnitudes.
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