On this page you will find general information regarding the implementation of EU ETS for the maritime industry.
Participants and obligations
Most ships of 5,000 tonnes and over will be part of the EU ETS from January 2024. From that point on there will be an obligation to monitor, report and verify (MRV), and to surrender emission allowances to compensate for their CO2-emissions. Travelling to and from harbours outside the EU means surrendering allowances on 50% of emissions. Within the EU it will be 100%
Phased implementation
As part of the agreement, the obligation to surrender emission allowances will be implemented gradually:
- 40% of verified emissions in 2024
- 70% in 2025
- 100% in 2026
This means that in 2024, a ship traveling from a port outside of the EU to an EU port will first monitor and check all their CO2-emissions from that journey. Subsequently, 50% is deducted from the total CO2-emissions and over 40% of that number emission allowances need to be surrendered.
Preparations in 2023
Most large ships already have MRV obligations since 2018. In the course of 2023 European implementing acts and regulations will be adopted, e.g. on how the emissions from January 2024 onwards will have to be monitored, reported and verified.
The full framework, including the adjusted MRV templates, is expected to become available in the second half of 2023, as there is quite a lot of "secondary EU legislation" still under discussion.
As more information comes out, the NEa will inform the shipping companies involved on upcoming obligations.
In this preliminary registration form you can register as contact person(s) for a compliance entity that will likely be attributed to the Dutch Emissions Authority. You will then receive updates of important website updates and compliance assisting information.
Further implementation of ETS maritime
The obligation to take part in the EU ETS will be further expanded in future: Large offshore vessels have MRV obligations from 2025. They will be obligated to surrender allowances from 2027.
Smaller seagoing vessels (general cargo vessels and off shore) between 400 – 5,000 tonnes will also have MRV obligations from 2025. It will be decided in 2026/2027 whether they will also possibly have to surrender allowances from 2027.