UK ETS for shipping: scope, surrender and the 2026 start
How the UK ETS applies to ships from 1 July 2026: which voyages and ports count, the half-year first period, and why the first surrender lands in 2028.
The UK ETS reached shipping on 1 July 2026 through the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Amendment) (Extension to Maritime Activities) Order 2026, which inserts a maritime schedule into the 2020 Order. It applies to ships of 5 000 gross tonnage and above. UK ETS Order 2026 · Para. 5
Unlike the EU scheme, scope attaches to the activity rather than the voyage: a voyage counts only if it begins and ends at a port of call within UK jurisdiction and does not call outside it, while in-port activity at a UK port counts in its own right. Voyages between Great Britain and Northern Ireland count for half; every other activity in scope counts in full. UK ETS Order 2026 · Para. 7 UK ETS Order 2026 · Para. 15
The first surrender is due on 30 April 2028 and covers the 2026 and 2027 scheme years together; later years follow the ordinary 30 April deadline. UK allowances are a separate market from EU allowances and do not substitute for them. UK ETS Order 2026 · Para. 15
UK ETS Maritime
Allowance surrender for UK domestic shipping from 1 July 2026 under SI 2026/392: scope, in-port emissions and the first compliance period. · SI 2026/392
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