A UK Supreme Court ruling has made downstream emissions, known as Scope 3, legally mandatory in Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs). For the shipping and ports industry, implications are immediate and unavoidable, according to PortXchange's release.
As lawsuits surge, EU regulations tighten and green investors demand full transparency, PortXchange is urging ports to stop delaying and start measuring what matters most.
“Ports don’t operate in a vacuum. They are central to global supply chains and the emissions those chains produce,” said Sjoerd de Jager, Managing Director and Co‑Founder of PortXchange. “This ruling confirms what many of us have argued for years, if we want real decarbonisation, Scope 3 can’t be ignored. The industry needs to move from reporting what’s easy to measuring what matters.”
The Supreme Court’s decision in Finch v Surrey County Council invalidated a fossil fuel permit for failing to assess emissions from the fuel’s end use. That precedent is now fuelling active legal challenges against North Sea oil and gas developments, including Rosebank and Jackdaw, with Greenpeace, Uplift and Friends of the Earth all filing suits.
Yet many ports continue to publish ESG reports that overlook the largest source of their emissions: the ships that call, the trucks that queue, and the rail networks on which they depend. This selective reporting is no longer acceptable to courts, regulators or the public.
Adding urgency, the European Commission is reviewing key components of its Fit for 55 climate package, with indications ports will be required to track and report vessel emissions at berth under expanded EU ETS and MRV schemes. For ports without digital emissions tracking or Scope 3 coverage, this is increasingly a commercial risk.
“Ports that fail to act now are going to find themselves locked out of the next wave of green growth,” said de Jager. “Scope 3 isn’t just about compliance, it’s about credibility, capital and competitiveness.”
Institutional investors and green bond providers are rejecting infrastructure projects that exclude Scope 3 emissions from ESG disclosures. To access EU taxonomy‑aligned or sustainability‑linked finance, ports will need end‑to‑end emissions transparency.
“Pretending it’s someone else’s footprint won’t fly with lenders anymore,” added de Jager.
Last week the UK Government announced a £30 million funding package to accelerate maritime decarbonisation, investing in shore power, clean fuels and digital infrastructure. PortXchange welcomed the funding but emphasised that grants and pilots alone will not suffice.
“We applaud the investment, but innovation without accountability is a missed opportunity,” said de Jager. “Ports need full visibility into their emissions profile and the ability to act on it. That’s exactly what EmissionInsider delivers.”
PortXchange’s EmissionInsider platform provides real‑time, multimodal emissions tracking across ships, trucks and rail, producing a complete, defensible view of Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. The platform includes scenario modelling, heatmap detection and compliance‑grade reporting, and is already being used by leading ports to close the Scope 3 gap before regulators or litigators do it for them. PortXchange is working with ports, terminal operators and regulators across the UK, Europe and the Americas to overhaul emissions strategies and support executives preparing for infrastructure permits, investor reporting or green finance audits.
“Ports don’t get to call themselves sustainable while ignoring 80% of their emissions,” said de Jager. “Scope 3 is where the accountability is. It’s where the credibility is. And now it’s where the law is.”
The UK Supreme Court, in Finch v Surrey County Council (decision delivered 20 June 2024), held by a 3–2 majority that environmental impact assessments must include downstream or Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions from the inevitable combustion of fossil fuels extracted by a development project — rejecting the prior position of the High Court and Court of Appeal that such emissions were discretionary or beyond scope.
PortXchange is a maritime technology company headquartered in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Founded in 2018 as a partnership and certified as a B Corp, it offers digital platforms—including EmissionInsider and Port Emissions Reporter—to support ports and terminal operators with real‑time Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions tracking, scenario modelling and regulatory‑ready reporting. The company works across the UK, Europe and the Americas.