Green Marine Europe: Sustained Growth, Unwavering Standards

At its 7th annual Green Shipping Day, held in Nice on 23 September 2026, Green Marine Europe unveiled its 2025 Performance Report, marking another milestone for the environmental certification program dedicated to the European maritime industry.

The program now covers three categories of participants — ship owners, shipyards and, for the first time, ports — while the number of European participants has increased by 30% in one year. In 2026, the Green Marine Europe community also surpassed the 100-member threshold.

European momentum within an international movement

Green Marine Europe’s growth is part of a broader international dynamic. Green Marine International now brings together 224 participants, 72 associations, 122 partners and 155 supporters through a program active in North America, Europe and Australia, while pilot projects have helped expand its presence into new regions.

This international dimension is built on a common principle: maintaining shared environmental standards while allowing each region to adapt criteria and implementation to its own regulatory and operational realities.

In Europe, this approach directly echoes the European Maritime Industrial Strategy and European Ports Strategy, both of which call for a coordinated approach to environmental performance across the maritime value chain.

The 2025 Performance Report is also being published as Green Marine International enters a new phase of development with its first three-year strategic plan. The plan is designed to guide its international expansion, strengthen governance across regions and ensure that the program continues to evolve in line with scientific knowledge, regulations and industry expectations.

Ship owners: broad-based progress despite more demanding criteria

Ship owners remain Green Marine Europe’s longest-standing and largest group of participants. Twenty-nine are certified for their 2025 performance.

Among the 25 participants with at least two years of comparable results, 60% improved their performance, eight remained stable and two recorded a decline. Their average performance level increased from 2.5 to 2.6 out of 5.

The most significant progress was achieved in greenhouse gas emissions and ship recycling, with an average improvement of 15% for each indicator. SOx and particulate matter improved by 7%, and NOx by 5%. In contrast, aquatic invasive species and underwater noise remain among the main areas where significant room for improvement remains.

Shipyards: the strongest improvement

Progress is even more significant among shipyards. The program has grown from four to seven participants, an increase of 75%, with six certified for 2025.

All four shipyards with comparable results improved their performance, with their average level rising from 2.1 to 2.4 out of 5.

Indicators covering greenhouse gas emissions and waste management improved by an average of 33%. These results also illustrate the diversity of improvement pathways: the technical complexity of the criteria, the investments required and the availability of operational solutions continuing to result in different rates of progress depending on the issue.

Ports: establishing a first European benchmark

In spring 2026, Green Marine Europe opened its certification framework to ports.

Eight port authorities now form the first European cohort. The ports of Santander and Cartagena chose to immediately enter the certification process based on actions carried out in 2025 and have become the program’s first two certified port authorities. The other six ports will report on their 2026 operations in early 2027.

With only two certified ports, their average performance level of 2.5 cannot yet be considered representative of a broader trend. It nevertheless provides an initial benchmark and confirms that the framework can be applied to different European port contexts. As the cohort expands, it will gradually provide comparable data and help build a European community of practice.

Looking beyond the overall average

The overall average is only one way of measuring performance. The distribution of results also shows that advanced performance levels are being reached across an increasing number of indicators.

In 2025, 199 indicator results reached at least Level 2, corresponding to the adoption of best practices; 113 reached at least Level 3; 37 reached at least Level 4; and 22 reached Level 5, associated with excellence and leadership.

This provides a broader picture of the program’s growing maturity. As the number of participants increases, the overall volume of results naturally grows, while reaching the most advanced levels remains a process built over time.

A certification framework evolving with the maritime sector

The Performance Report goes beyond certification results. It also shows how Green Marine Europe is adapting its framework to support broader transformations across the maritime industry.

The 2026 criteria strengthen requirements in areas including air emissions, ship recycling, underwater noise and waste management. The methodologies place increasing emphasis on documented results, decarbonisation pathways and measurable commitments over time.

At the same time, the external verification process has been strengthened. Limits on the number of verifications conducted by each verifier, rotation after three consecutive verifications and annual controls all contribute to protecting the credibility of the program as its scope expands.

Green Marine Europe is also increasing its contribution to projects that extend beyond certification itself: circularity and the vessel life cycle through the Horizon Europe CirclesOfLife project, cetacean protection through the Pelagos Consortium, and the operational rollout of its new Ports certification framework.

The underlying principle remains the same: turning environmental ambitions into measurable, documented and verifiable pathways for improvement.

Key takeaways

The 2025 Performance Report confirms two parallel trends: Green Marine Europe is expanding its scope while maintaining its focus on measurable environmental progress.
Ship owners, shipyards and now ports have a common framework adapted to their respective realities, all based on the same principle: going beyond compliance and making continual improvement a long-term commitment.