That's according to new research released on Monday backed by industry giant Maersk.
Shipping accounts for nearly 3% of the world's CO2 emissions and the sector is under growing scrutiny to become cleaner.
Bo Cerup-Simonsen, is head of the independent Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping.
He told Reuters, quote:
"If we don't do anything beyond what is just normal good practice then shipping is on a path which is very far from the pathway laid by IPCC and the Paris Agreement."
Leading shipping associations proposed creating a global levy on carbon emissions from ships to help speed up the industry's efforts to go greener in September and submitted a proposal to the UN's shipping agency.
The center said such a levy could be introduced initially at as low as $50 per ton of CO2, before being gradually increased to $150 towards 2050.
