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A new study by the IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute and CE Delft, the independent research and consultancy organisation, reveals a levy on nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions could reduce ship emissions by 70%.

The study, commissioned by Transport & Environment (T&E), identifies for the first time the policy options available at EU level to regulate ship NOx emissions in the EU seas and compares them with the measures to be taken under the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).

Revenues from the levy would be earmarked to fund the uptake of NOx abatement measures. In addition to a NOx levy with a fund, the study identified two other EU-level policy tools to reduce emissions: mandatory slow steaming of ships (with a levy and fund as an alternative compliance option) and a stand-alone levy on emitted NOx.

"Ship NOx emissions affect all EU member states, whether along the Baltic, around the North Sea or the Mediterranean. This study provides a solution for all EU seas," said Faig Abbasov, Clean Shipping Officer at Transport & Environment, at an event in the European Parliament to launch the study.

Commissioned in light of ongoing failure by the European Parliament and the Council on National Emission Ceilings to agree revisions to the National Ceilings Directive (NEC), the study compares NOx abatement options for ships and the associated costs for the shipping sector.

Panel participant Louise Duprez, Senior Policy Officer with the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), said: "Ambitious EU action has helped slash air pollution on land... The EU must now take similar steps to cut emissions from ships, which have toxic fumes that cause 50,000 premature deaths in Europe each year."

NOx emissions from shipping are a major concern for public health and environmental protection in Europe, particularly in coastal regions. NOx contributes to particle and ozone formation and also causes acidification and eutrophication when deposited on land, lakes and seas.

NOx emissions from global shipping make up about 30% of all man-made NOx emissions. In Europe's North Sea, emissions are responsible for a significant proportion of nitrogen deposition in Belgium (13%), Denmark (17%), the Netherlands (17%), Norway (17%), Sweden (11%) and the United Kingdom (11%); whilst in the Mediterranean Sea emissions result in nitrogen deposition in Cyprus (30%), Greece (21%), Italy (15%), Malta (51%), Spain (10%) and Turkey (12%). Contributions from the Atlantic Ocean result in depositions in Iceland (10%), Ireland (16%) and Portugal (19%).