Berlin, 11 April 2025 – In a significant decision, the International Maritime Organization’s 83rd Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC83) has approved the creation of a new Emission Control Area (ECA) in the North-East Atlantic Ocean. This ECA introduces stricter regulations on emissions from ships, with considerable benefits for both environmental protection and public health. It will be the world’s largest ECA to date. The decision follows an official submission to the MEPC 83 of the research conducted by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) in collaboration with Porto University, demonstrating the proposal’s potential for reducing emissions while also benefiting public health and the environment. This research has been approved and submitted by all 27 EU member states, the United Kingdom, and the European Commission. The new ECA will cover the territorial seas and exclusive economic zones of the Faroe Islands, France, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom—a region home to more than 190 million people. It will serve as a link between existing ECAs in the Baltic, North, and Mediterranean Seas, and connect them to those recently approved in the Norwegian Sea and Canadian Arctic. (....)