Since its opening in 1914 the Panama Canal has reduced time and distances. More than a million vessels have used the route through Panama, cutting distances, reducing costs and changing the pattern of world trade. The expansion of the Canal has enlarged the capacity for cargo transportation on this route, thereby setting new standards for maritime trade and industry.

The Panama Canal route with its expanded canal offers the maritime industry the opportunity to transport greater volumes of cargo using fewer ships. Moreover, it will reduce CO2 emissions and require fewer cargo movements by comparison with other air, road and rail transport systems.

Over its 103 years of operation, the Panama Canal Green Route is calculated to have saved approximately more than 650 million tonnes of CO2 emissions. It is estimated that the Green Route including the expanded Canal will save over 160 million tonnes of CO2 in its first 10 years of operation.

The Panama Canal has developed software that automatically calculates the CO2 and harmful emissions associated with maritime transport, incorporating different routes and cargo transport modes. Among the criteria used in developing this tool, two stand out: it should be easy to use and, the calculation method should be consistent. The inputs used in calculating CO2 and harmful emissions are: type of ship, amount of cargo, mode of transport, origin and destination of cargo.