The Council of Ministers of Spain approved the National Action Plan for the Decarbonization of Maritime Transport, promoted by the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility (Mitma). The project will allocate USD 290 million over five years (2026-2030) to support shipping companies in the renewal and transformation of existing ships and in the construction of new units with lower greenhouse gas emissions, as well as to promote the use of renewable fuels of non-biological origin, such as ammonia or methanol.
The planned funding will come from the revenue generated by the inclusion of maritime transport in the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS).
For the director general of the Spanish Shipowners’ Association (Anave), Elena Seco, the approval of the plan “represents a significant advance and a recognition of the strategic role of maritime transport in the Spanish economy.”
At the same time, Seco emphasized that the allocation of USD 290 million over five years must be understood as a first step, “given the magnitude of the investments necessary to renew and adapt the fleet, commit to new technologies and alternative fuels, and deploy innovative solutions.”
Anave details that the planned amounts barely represent 5% of the revenue that the maritime ETS will generate in Spain until 2030, estimated at over USD 5,800 million. In 2025 alone, with the obligation to surrender allowances equivalent to 40% of the verified emissions of 2024, the revenue linked to maritime transport will be around USD 435 million. Meanwhile, Spanish shipowners have invested more than USD 1,000 million in the last two years to modernize their fleet and reduce their environmental footprint, and have committed more than an additional USD 1,200 million in new projects.
The creation of a National Plan for the Decarbonization of Maritime Transport funded by maritime ETS revenue has been a demand that Anave had been repeatedly raising.
The Association insists on the need for the instrument to “go further, both in volume and scope” and to consider aid not only for investments (Capex), but also for the additional operational costs (OPEX) derived from the use of cleaner fuels and technologies, as well as realistic transitional measures while the new fuels are not fully available.
According to data published in the European Union’s Union Registry, Spain is the second country in the European Economic Area with the highest volume of surrendered allowances and associated revenue from the application of the EU ETS to maritime transport, only behind Greece.
In the first year of effective application to the sector, more than five million emission allowances have been surrendered in Spain, equivalent to 40% of the verified CO2 emissions and to approximately USD 400 million at average prices as of September 30, 2025.
With the progressive entry of the system (70% of emissions in 2025 and 100% in 2026), the revenue could reach about USD 800 million in 2026 and over USD 1,200 million in 2027, exceeding USD 5,800 million cumulatively by 2030 in a conservative estimate.
These revenues represent a direct cost for shipping companies and should be reverted to the sector itself and used to finance its energy transition, as recommended by the European Commission in its recent Communication on investment in sustainable transport, which urges member states to use the revenue from instruments such as the ETS to accelerate the decarbonization of hard-to-abate sectors, including maritime transport.
It is essential that a significant part of the maritime ETS revenue is integrated into the recently approved National Decarbonization Plan for Maritime Transport and allocated to renewing the fleet, supporting the deployment of clean fuels, developing port infrastructures including OPS connections and new fuel supply points, and strengthening research, innovation, and operational digitalization.
However, for Anave, the decarbonization of maritime transport requires a global and coherent framework, coordinated within the International Maritime Organization (IMO). While progress is made towards that international agreement, European mechanisms must be designed to reinforce the sector’s competitiveness, avoiding fiscal burdens without environmental return.
In this sense, the revenues generated by the maritime ETS cannot become just another tax, but rather an effective tool to support the energy transition of maritime transport, which is strategic for both the economy and the security of European supply.
