UK ETS scope expansion: maritime sector Authority Response

The UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS) Authority (UK Government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs for Northern Ireland) sought input via public consultation on a number of proposals to expand the scheme to the maritime sector.

We envisage that including maritime within the UK ETS can help overcome a key barrier to decarbonising the sector, which is that the prices of maritime fuels currently do not reflect their environmental costs. Including the maritime sector within the scheme could also strengthen the incentive to adopt low carbon fuels, and support deployment of fuel-efficient technologies and the introduction of fuel-efficient operating practices.

In July 2025 the UK ETS Authority published an interim response to this consultation, to enable operators to prepare for the scheme and express interest in voluntary onboarding with the Environment Agency.

In November 2025 The UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS) Authority published its main response to this consultation, setting out the final policy detail ahead of the inclusion of domestic maritime emissions in the UK ETS from July 2026.

This includes decisions on:

• the surrender period in the scheme first year
• requirement for a Document of Compliance
• adjusting the UK ETS cap to account for the inclusion of domestic maritime emissions
• the treatment of offshore ships
• further exemptions
• the mechanism to ensure carbon pricing parity across the Irish Sea
• the future review of the 5000GT threshold

The UK ETS Authority has also launched a consultation on the proposed expansion of the UK ETS to a share of emissions from international voyages

Documents

• UK ETS scope expansion: domestic maritime - main Authority response Adobe PDF (451.22 KB)
• UK ETS scope expansion: domestic maritime - final stage impact assessmentAdobe PDF (899.91 KB)