The Data-Driven Transition: Why Digitalisation Is Becoming Critical to Low-Carbon Transport

The transition to lower-carbon transport is usually discussed in terms of fuels, vehicles, ships, infrastructure and investment.

But another transformation is taking place alongside these developments.

Transport is becoming increasingly digital.

Ships are generating more operational data. Ports are deploying connected systems. Trucks are increasingly managed through telematics and fleet platforms. Airlines are using increasingly sophisticated data to optimise operations. Regulators and financial institutions are demanding more detailed information about emissions and environmental performance.

This is changing the role of data in transport.

It is no longer simply an operational resource. It is becoming part of the infrastructure required to manage the transition to net zero.

Efficiency Begins With Better Information

One of the most immediate contributions digitalisation can make to decarbonisation is improving operational efficiency.

Transport systems are inherently complex. Routes, weather conditions, cargo flows, congestion, fuel consumption and asset availability all influence energy use.

Digital tools can bring these variables together.

For a vessel, data can support decisions around routing, speed, trim and fuel consumption. For a truck fleet, telematics can help identify inefficient routes, unnecessary idling and underutilised vehicles. In logistics, digital platforms can improve cargo matching and reduce empty movements.

The objective is straightforward: achieve the same transport outcome with less energy.

This matters because efficiency improvements can be implemented across existing assets while larger technology transitions are still developing.

The Scale of the Opportunity

The broader energy transition demonstrates how rapidly digital and clean technologies are developing together.

The International Energy Agency's Global Energy Review 2026 found that global energy demand increased by 1.3% in 2025, while low-emissions sources supplied nearly 60% of the increase in energy demand. The report also estimates that the deployment of solar PV, wind, nuclear power, electric cars and heat pumps since 2019 avoided around 3 gigatonnes of CO2 emissions in 2025.

Digitalisation cannot claim responsibility for these reductions. But it can increasingly determine how efficiently complex energy and transport systems operate.

That distinction is important.

Digital technology is not itself a substitute for cleaner energy. Its value lies in enabling better decisions, better utilisation of assets and better coordination between physical systems.

Data Is Becoming a Regulatory Requirement

The importance of transport data extends beyond operational efficiency.

Climate regulation increasingly depends on measurement.

Operators need to demonstrate how much energy they consume, what fuels they use and what emissions are associated with their activities.

In shipping, the importance of monitoring, reporting and verification is increasing as international and regional climate measures develop.

Lifecycle emissions are particularly important.

A fuel cannot simply be classified as "green" based on what happens onboard a vessel or vehicle. Its overall environmental performance can depend on how it was produced, transported and delivered.

This makes reliable data throughout the fuel supply chain increasingly important.

Digital MRV Could Change Carbon Management

Digital measurement, reporting and verification systems could become a core component of the transport transition.

Instead of relying on fragmented records and periodic reporting, digital MRV systems can potentially collect operational information continuously and connect it to compliance and carbon-accounting platforms.

For transport operators, this could improve visibility over emissions performance.

For regulators, it could make compliance monitoring more efficient.

For financial institutions, better data could improve the assessment of transition risk.

And for cargo owners, it could provide greater visibility into the emissions associated with their supply chains.

The result could be a shift from estimated environmental performance towards increasingly granular, data-based measurement.

Carbon Accounting Is Becoming Commercially Relevant

The significance of this development extends into the commercial market.

As companies face increasing pressure to understand the emissions associated with their supply chains, transport emissions data can influence procurement and contracting decisions.

A cargo owner may increasingly want to know not only the cost and delivery time of a shipment, but also its emissions intensity.

That creates a potential commercial value for high-quality emissions data.

Transport companies that can provide reliable, verifiable information about the environmental performance of their services may have an advantage as customers strengthen their own climate reporting and procurement requirements.

Ports Are Becoming Data Hubs

Ports illustrate how physical and digital infrastructure are increasingly converging.

A modern port must coordinate vessels, terminals, cargo, customs, trucking, rail, energy systems and increasingly alternative fuel infrastructure.

Digital platforms can help connect these activities.

Better information about vessel arrival times can reduce waiting and unnecessary fuel consumption. Digital cargo systems can improve terminal planning. Energy-management platforms can help coordinate electricity demand as ports introduce shore power, charging infrastructure and alternative fuel facilities.

This becomes particularly important as ports evolve into energy hubs.

The future green port will not simply require new physical infrastructure. It will also require the digital systems needed to manage increasingly complex energy and transport flows.

Artificial Intelligence Adds a New Dimension

Artificial intelligence is beginning to expand the possibilities of transport optimisation.

AI systems can analyse large datasets and identify patterns that may be difficult to detect using conventional methods.

Potential applications include predictive maintenance, route optimisation, demand forecasting, congestion management and energy optimisation.

However, AI is not automatically synonymous with lower emissions.

The benefits depend on how systems are designed and deployed.

The IEA's 2026 analysis of AI and energy highlights this distinction. While the energy used for individual AI tasks has fallen rapidly, growing adoption of more energy-intensive applications is driving strong increases in electricity demand from data centres.

Transport therefore needs to assess AI through a wider efficiency lens.

A digital solution should ultimately deliver sufficient operational and environmental benefits to justify its own resource requirements.

Digitalisation Can Support Better Infrastructure Investment

Data can also improve decisions before infrastructure is built.

Transport planners increasingly need to determine where charging stations, alternative fuel facilities, logistics hubs and intermodal connections should be located.

Poorly planned infrastructure can result in underused assets and inefficient allocation of capital.

Data-driven modelling can help assess demand, traffic patterns, freight flows and potential emissions reductions before investment decisions are made.

The World Bank's Global Facility to Decarbonize Transport has been developing analytical tools for assessing transport policies and investments, including freight-flow modelling and decarbonisation analysis. Its 2025 annual report describes the development of a global freight and commodity flow model designed to support prioritisation of transport and logistics corridor investments.

This illustrates an important evolution.

Digital tools are not only being used to operate transport systems. They are increasingly being used to decide where and how those systems should be built.

Data Quality Will Become a Strategic Issue

Greater dependence on data creates another challenge.

Poor data can produce poor decisions.

Different operators may use different methodologies. Data may be incomplete or difficult to compare. Emissions calculations can vary depending on boundaries and assumptions.

For carbon accounting to become commercially credible, standardisation will therefore be essential.

The International Transport Forum's Transport NDC Tracker illustrates the broader importance of consistent information. Its latest tracker shows that 97% of countries' Nationally Determined Contributions mention transport, 80% include transport measures and only 34% establish specific transport CO2 reduction targets.

The data challenge is therefore not simply about collecting more information.

It is about collecting comparable, verifiable and decision-useful information.

Digitalisation Is Not a Standalone Climate Solution

There is a risk of overstating the role of technology.

Digitalisation cannot replace alternative fuels, renewable energy, efficient infrastructure or regulatory action.

A highly optimised diesel vessel is still dependent on diesel. A digitally managed truck fleet still requires cleaner energy to achieve deep decarbonisation.

The strongest approach is therefore to treat digitalisation as an enabling layer.

Clean energy provides the pathway. Infrastructure provides the physical system. Regulation creates the framework. Finance provides the capital. Digitalisation connects the system and makes it measurable.

That relationship is likely to become increasingly important.

The Next Phase of Transport Will Be More Connected

Transport is moving towards increasingly integrated systems.

A vessel's arrival can influence port energy demand. Port operations can affect trucking schedules. Cargo availability can influence rail movements. Fuel availability can influence vessel deployment.

These relationships create opportunities for optimisation across the entire transport chain.

The challenge will be moving beyond isolated digital projects towards interoperable systems that allow information to move between companies, modes and infrastructure providers.

That will require common standards, cybersecurity, investment and collaboration.

The transport transition is often described as a race to deploy cleaner technologies.

But deployment alone is not enough.

The industry also needs to know how assets are performing, where emissions are occurring, which investments are producing results and how different parts of the transport system interact.

That makes data increasingly strategic.

Digitalisation can help transport operators improve efficiency, regulators strengthen accountability, investors assess transition risk and infrastructure planners allocate capital more effectively.

It will not solve the climate challenge by itself.

But as transport systems become more complex, interconnected and regulated, the ability to measure, analyse and act on reliable information will become an increasingly important determinant of how quickly the sector can move from climate ambition to measurable results.

The next generation of low-carbon transport will therefore be powered differently.

It will be managed differently, measured differently and increasingly connected through data.