Shipping decarbonization and public emergencies: How does COVID-19 impact container shipping carbon emissions?

Shipping carbon emissions is becoming increasingly susceptible to emergency events, with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) exerting one of the most long-lasting effects. Clarifying the impact of COVID-19 on shipping carbon emissions is crucial for reducing and decarbonizing the shipping industry and controlling global climate change. This study utilizes the automatic identification system and socio-economic data to measure global containerized carbon emissions with the help of the bottom-up method, explores the impact of COVID-19 on carbon emissions based on the “global-regional-national-port” multi-scale, and conducts empirical tests with the help of the between-within model. Globally, container shipping carbon emissions increased over 50 % compared with those of 2019, with four spatial hotpots. Regionally, carbon emissions increased most significantly in the Panama Canal, Strait of Gibraltar, and Black Sea Strait. On a national scale, the differences in carbon emissions from containerized maritime transport between countries have narrowed compared to before the COVID-19 outbreak, with head country primacy decreasing. At the port level, the effects of COVID-19 show significant heterogeneity: emissions decreased at the ports in Northern Europe but increased in Asian. The number of new COVID-19 cases in the origin or destination country significantly increased container shipping carbon emissions, with variations depending on geographical locations and economic development levels.