EU Taxonomy:
Publication of
first delegated act
The first delegated act, published in December 2021, focuses primarily on Climate Change Mitigation & Climate Change Adaptation. For maritime transport this resulted in three chapters:
6.10. Sea and coastal freight water transport, vessels for port operations and auxiliary activities
6.11. Sea and coastal passenger water transport
6.12. Retrofitting of sea and coastal freight and passenger water transport
With respect to the climate change mitigation goal, the following technical criteria were defined:
Substantial contribution: vessel not dedicated to the transport of fossil fuels + at least one of the criteria
| Freight | Passenger | Retrofit | |
| Criterion a | Zero direct emissions | Zero direct emissions | |
| Criterion b 2022-2025 |
Hybrid vessels with min 25% of zero direct emission fuel mass or plug-in power for their normal operation | Hybrid vessels with min 25% of zero direct emission fuel mass or plug-in power for their normal operation | Min 10% fuel consumption reductions in gr/dwt/Nm, as demonstrated by CFD, tank tests or similar calculations |
| Criterion c 2022-2025 (short sea) |
For coastal services: 50% lower than the average reference CO2 emissions value defined for heavy duty vehicles | N/A | |
| Criterion d 2022-2025 |
Attained EEDI value 10% below the EEDI requirements applicable on 01/01/2022 | Attained EEDI value 10% below the EEDI requirements applicable on 01/01/2022 |
Main reflections:
- Vessels should be eligible regardless of the cargo they transport: even though it is important to have ambitious goals, the green transition unfortunately will not happen overnight. Therefore it is important that as long as there is a demand for fossil fuels, the supply is organised in the most environmentally friendly way.
- All retrofits that improve the energy efficiency of a vessel should be eligible: for progressive shipowners that have already been making their fleet more energy efficient over the last years,10% is a high threshold. This criterium will result in “rewarding” laggards and excluding frontrunners.