New analysis from the British Ports Association challenges claims that EU Emissions Trading System pricing is diverting container traffic from continental Europe to Britain, finding instead that infrastructure investment is the primary driver of growing UK port competitiveness.
The EU earlier this year proposed measures to penalise UK container ports based on reports from Spain’s EU ETS Observatory suggesting that a sharp increase in the UK’s share of Northern European container shipping activity constituted evidence of carbon leakage.
The BPA analysis disputes this conclusion, finding that the figures do not reflect actual changes in cargo volumes and overlook major port investments and changes in global shipping networks.
The analysis notes that UK container volume growth in 2025 was concentrated in approximately 85% in London, following the opening of a new GBP 350 million berth at London Gateway in late 2024.
Concurrently, major continental ports including Rotterdam, Antwerp-Bruges and Hamburg also recorded growth during the same period, undermining the carbon leakage thesis.
Mark Simmonds, Director of Policy and External Affairs at the British Ports Association, stated that British ports have invested hundreds of millions of pounds to attract more ships and handle more cargo, and that those investments are delivering results through improved competitiveness.
He described it as extraordinary that the EU might respond to that success by introducing measures to penalise British ports, arguing that all available evidence, including the EU’s own assessments and data, shows that UK throughput increases align with new port capacity coming online.
While expressing support for efforts to reduce shipping emissions, he emphasised that climate policy must be based on sound evidence rather than assumptions that could damage competition and investment.
