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Smart Freight Centre has published its the 2025 Clean Cargo Global Ocean Container Greenhouse Gas Emission Intensities Report, together with a white paper explaining an important update to the Clean Cargo emissions calculation methodology. The change is important for more accurate and transparent emissions reporting for container shipping and is particularly relevant for freight forwarders, shippers and logistics companies that use Clean Cargo data for customer reporting and greenhouse gas accounting.

Until now, Clean Cargo calculated vessel emissions intensity using a standard assumption that container vessels operated at 70% utilisation. Under the updated methodology, this assumption has been replaced by actual carrier-reported transport activity (TEU-km) collected at vessel level.

Using primary operational data improves the accuracy and credibility of reported emissions and reflects the growing importance of primary data in sustainability reporting, including under ISO 14083 and the EU's CountEmissionsEU framework.

The methodology update creates a break in comparability between historical and future data. As a result, emissions intensities reported for 2025 may appear either higher or lower than previous years depending on the actual cargo carried by individual vessels compared with the previous 70% utilisation assumption.

Importantly, these differences should not be interpreted as an improvement or deterioration in carrier environmental performance. Smart Freight Center notes that they are primarily the result of the revised calculation methodology rather than operational changes. To help organisations maintain year-on-year consistency in reporting, Smart Freight Centre has introduced a correction factor and recommends that users clearly explain the methodological change when comparing historical data.