Shipping pollution should be reduced to tackle climate change and prevent damage to human health, a report from the European Commission said Tuesday.

The European Commission's Joint Research Center (JRC) published a report Tuesday describing the methodologies for estimating shipping emissions, and setting out options for reducing pollution in maritime transport.

"This JRC report underlines why pollution from shipping, like that from many other sources, needs to be reduced both to help tackle climate change and to prevent severe damage to human health," said Research, Innovation and Science Commissioner Maire Geoghegan Quinn.

Shipping is currently the most environmentally-friendly mode of transport, transporting 90 percent of global goods while accounting for only 4 percent of global man-made CO2 emissions.

However, as no regulation of international maritime transport emissions exists yet, some experts have estimated that shipping emissions will increase from the current level of around 1 giga-ton per year, by an estimated 150-200 percent by 2050.

The report proposes technical solutions to reduce fuel consumption, air pollutants and greenhouse gases through better ship design, propulsion, machinery and optimized operation.

The report also analyzes how the introduction of market-based policies, such as a greenhouse gas Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) for the shipping sector at international level, could deliver the reductions needed.

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