The second edition of the European Maritime Transport Environmental Report
The European Maritime Transport Environment Report 2025 released last 4 February by the European Maritime Safety Agency and the European Environment Agency.
The European maritime sector is progressing toward greater sustainability, but challenges remain in achieving EU climate and environmental goals. According the Report, the sector plays a crucial role in trade, economic growth, and energy security. However, it also has significant environmental impacts, contributing to energy use, pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions.
Activities like shipping of cargo, containers, commercial fishing, tankers, and cruise ships, as well as port activities, remain significant contributors to a wide range of environmental challenges, with the whole sector accounting for 3-4% of the EU’s overall carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, a share that needs to decrease. Meanwhile, methane gas (CH4) emissions have at least doubled between 2018 and 2023, accounting for 26% of the sector’s total methane emissions in 2022. Apart from greenhouse gas emissions, reducing air pollutants like sulphur and nitrogen oxides (NOX) continues to be an issue.
Apart from emissions, maritime activities cause water pollution, including oil spills, wastewater discharges from ships, and underwater noise. Marine litter, although halved in the last decade, remains a significant problem, especially due to container loss and plastic pellet pollution.
For Jessika Roswall, EU Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy “Our waters are under pressure from climate change, biodiversity loss, mismanagement and pollution. This is why I will launch an EU Water Resilience Strategy. We need a paradigm shift on how we value water, to preserve water quality and quantity and to boost the competitive edge of our water industry. We need a ‘source to sea’ approach as activities at sea are closely linked to those on land. Now is the time for transformative change in maritime and water sectors so we can make Europe water-resilient”