Red Sea shipping diversions have caused extra 14m tonnes in CO2 emissions

The crisis in the Red Sea has resulted in 13.6m tonnes of CO2 emissions by ships rerouted from the Suez Canal around the Cape of Good Hope, according to Inverto, part of Boston Consulting Group.

Equivalent to the carbon emissions of 9m cars over the same period, the longer route has increased the carbon footprints of companies reliant on shipping, undermining their ability to hit net zero commitments.

Sushank Agarwal, principal at Inverto, said: “Having to divert ships around the Cape of Good Hope created a shock to supply chains. That stage is largely over and attention is now on the problem of increased carbon emissions and of course increased costs.”