Industry calls on EU to bolster clean shipping standards

An alliance of non-profits and industry coalitions, collectively representing 82 clean maritime and green hydrogen industry stakeholders, has urged the European Union (EU) to adopt “stronger” policies to support the shipping industry in its pursuit of meeting climate goals and cultivating a global “competitive edge” in the wake of the measures agreed recently at the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

On April 11, 2025, member states of the IMO agreed on measures to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the international shipping industry. In response, the alliance, which includes the SASHA Coalition, Zero Emissions Ship Technology Association (ZESTAs), the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU), Carbon Market Watch, the Green Hydrogen Organisation, and ZERO – Associação Sistema Terrestre Sustentável, said the IMO measures represent an “indisputably historic moment” for the shipping industry and the climate alike; however, much more needs to be done to achieve full decarbonization.

“Despite the EU’s support for more ambitious options, including a universal GHG levy and stringent fuel standard, the measures ultimately agreed are not strong enough to align international shipping with either the 1.5ºC Paris temperature goal or the IMO’s own targets agreed in its 2023 Strategy,” the alliance stressed in a letter to the EU.

“The regulations fail to price enough of shipping’s total GHG emissions to ensure the maritime energy transition goes fast and far enough, and is just and equitable. The pricing mechanism agreed fails to put penalties on close to 90% of emissions, weakening the incentive to shift away from fossil fuels, and limiting the availability of funds to drive the transition. The upshot is that the sector is set to miss its 2030 goals, and will cut at most 10% of shipping emissions by 2030, a far cry from the IMO’s 2023 Strategy target of 30%.”

As per the alliance, the IMO agreement also fails to “adequately” promote green hydrogen fuels, which are said to have the lowest lifecycle GHG emissions.

“Green hydrogen and e-fuels, such as e-ammonia and e-methanol, provide the shipping industry with the only credible alternative fuel pathway to net-zero, alongside other non-fuel technologies, energy solutions and efficiency measures. But these fuels face high barriers to accessing the investment needed to develop, scale production and reduce prices. The IMO measures will give some boost to e-fuels via demand signals and rewards for early adopters of zero and near-zero (ZNZ) fuels, but not enough. They may also give even greater help to unsustainable liquified natural gas (LNG) and biofuels,” the industry claimed.

The EU Commission was called to “seize the opportunity to plug the gaps” and advance its Clean Industrial Deal competitiveness goals. The alliance noted that Europe is “poised to take advantage of a global competitive edge” in the maritime and hydrogen sectors, but is “hamstrung” by a lack of enabling policy.

The following policy roadmap was suggested to unlock this potential:

• 2025 – Sustainable Transport Investment Plan (STIP): introduce financial support mechanisms for e-fuel producers.
• 2026 – ETS maritime review: expand ETS and dedicate revenues to funding e-fuel development.
• 2027 – FuelEU Maritime review: strengthen targets and make them legally binding.
• Urgently push for more ambitious regulation at the IMO in line with the objectives of the Clean Industrial Deal.

It is worth mentioning that earlier, some industry representatives praised the IMO agreement as “historic,” while others described it as a “shipwreck” that missed targets. However, a unified opinion is that more work is needed to steer the shipping industry toward a climate-neutral path.