SIMIC

Global shipping accounts for three per cent of the world's CO2 emissions, with the sector under scrutiny to become cleaner.

"The transition doesn't happen by itself because the ways of decarbonising are more expensive than just continuing to run on fossil fuels," said Maersk McKinney Moller Centre for Zero Carbon Shipping head Bo Cerup-Simonsen.

"If we don't do anything beyond what is just normal good practice then shipping is on a path which is very far from the pathway laid by IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) and the Paris Agreement." said Mr Cerup-Simonsen.

Mr Cerup-Simonsen referred to the report by the UN climate panel in August, which warned that global warming is close to spiraling out of control.

He referred to a landmark report by the UN climate panel published in August, which warned that global warming is dangerously close to spiraling out of control.

However, Mr Cerup-Simonsen declared decarbonisation is possible if action is taken to ensure that zero and low carbon fuels become economically viable and competitive to fossil fuels.

"You then have 99 per cent (of the shipping industry) running on fossil fuel and they are paying for the one per cent that are starting to run on the green fuels," said Mr Cerup-Simonsen.