Success stories

A container shipment from Shanghai to Paris can produce anywhere from 7.3 to 10 tonnes of CO₂, depending on the route and vessel chosen. Until recently, however, that difference was largely invisible to the companies making shipping decisions.

Today, Europe’s northern seas face growing pressure. The energy transition, climate change, biodiversity loss and increasing geopolitical tensions are reshaping how countries plan and manage their maritime space. Offshore wind, fisheries, shipping and nature protection all compete for space at sea,

The island of Terceira in the Azores sits 1,500 km west of mainland Portugal – remote enough to make running a business complicated, let alone one built around delivering fresh fish to distant markets. Tibério Barbeito started TZT Flying Fish Azores in his twenties with exactly that ambition.

At just 27, Richard Delmas is charting his own course in the waters off Réunion Island. Born into a fishing family, he grew up at sea. With support from the EU, he launched a small one-person fishing business built on flexibility, low costs and direct sales.

Mediterranean Algae, a Spanish company tackles nutrient pollution in ports and coastal waters. Its system uses algae to clean seawater. It also provides reliable real-time data on water quality. This helps ports meet EU requirements and reduce their environmental impact.

As the European Union advances its green transition, climate ambitions and circular economy objectives, it is increasingly important that Indigenous people are able to contribute to policies that affect their lands, livelihoods and communities.

Seafood consumers often focus on a small number of well-known fish species, placing pressure on those stocks. In Malta, however, the authorities have decided to tackle this at a grassroots level: through the ‘Explore the Variety, Eat Sustainable Fish’ initiative,

In Portugal’s Ria de Aveiro lagoon, the once-thriving Largo do Laranjo was a vibrant underwater meadow carpeted in Zostera noltei seagrass. But decades of industrial pollution left mercury and arsenic into the waters, poisoning the sediments and wiping out the underwater greenery.

The green transition of the maritime sector in the Mediterranean is an urgent priority, though coordination and alignment can be a challenge. The Mediterranean Sea presents a uniquely complex governance landscape.