Thanks for sharing the report, Ciaran! With batteries ready, the first fully electric ferries already sailing and more on order, the question isn’t if but when. Happy to chat about how we can tackle this together.
Hola from Barcelona 👋
Here ferries pollute x2 of all city cars combined.
Electrifying them would mean giving port cities their clean air back. What are we waiting for?
The Industrial Accelerator Act is here!
The rules outlined in the law would require almost all EVs sold in the EU to have batteries produced in Europe from 2027 – a positive step for Europe’s battery industry.
See our full response 👇
bit.ly/46yQSuw
It's due to the IMO's Emission Control Area coming into force in the North East Atlantic in 2027, which applies to Dublin. But this isn't a perfect solution: similar measures are already in place in the Mediterranean and cities like Barcelona still have 2x as much pollution from ferries as from cars
Electric ferries are already a reality and are starting to appear across Europe.
The main barrier to scaling up is charging infrastructure, but 57% of ports would only need small chargers below 5MW to support electric ferry operations.
Check out the full report 👇
bit.ly/4l6FDPN
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➡️ Unlike other parts of the shipping sector, ferries are easy to electrify given their smaller size and fixed routes – at least 60% of Europe’s ferry fleet could run on battery power by 2035
➡️ 52% of all ferries would be cheaper to operate swapped for electric over fossil-fuelled vessels
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Some key findings:
➡️ CO2 emissions from ferries in Europe’s ports are equivalent to 6.6 million cars
➡️ Dublin was the most polluted ferry port in 2025, but changes in emissions regulations will see Las Palmas in the top spot in 2027
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Ferries play a vital role in connecting Europe’s islands with the mainland, yet many are old and polluting, making them bad for the climate and the health of the people living near ports.
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NEW: Ferry pollution is worse than all the cars combined in many European port cities… but more than half of European ferries could be electric by 2035.
With the average ferry being 26 years old, the fleet is ripe for renewal now.
🧵⤵️
➡️ Implement circularity targets in the EU Batteries Regulation with a local preference, to ensure they benefit EU recyclers
Check out the research 👇
bit.ly/4aDtChl
➡️ Ban or significantly limit waste material shipment outside the EU to ensure sufficient feedstock for EU recyclers
➡️ Simplify intra-EU waste shipment rules to cut costs and administrative burden by further simplifying the Waste Shipment Regulation
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In order to scale effective recycling in Europe, we need to:
➡️ Mainstream and prioritise circularity across policy areas and funding streams: recycling should be considered as any other clean tech
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With huge potential in Europe, and lots of waste batteries expected to become available, now is the time to ensure Europe has the needed recycling capacity.
Nevertheless, lots of Europe’s battery recycling plans are currently at risk.
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For a typical VW ID4 with an NMC battery, using European recycled nickel can achieve savings of 1200kg CO2e compared to most common primary nickel.
However the recycling route, and other factors such as plant location, can have a huge impact on the overall carbon emissions of the final product.
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♻️ Is recycling batteries really cleaner than mining new raw materials? Absolutely.
NEW T&E research compares the carbon footprint of recycled nickel from waste batteries with primary mined and processed nickel – and found that recovering nickel has a much lower impact.
🧵⤵️
Have you ever travelled internationally by train?
T&E and @ufcquechoisir.bsky.social, the biggest French consumer organization, want to hear about it.
Have your say about what needs to be addressed in the upcoming EU rail package through this short survey.
Share your experience 👇
However, increasing the target to 69%, and excluding PHEVs, in line with the medium ambition scenario in the Impact Assessment, would see large companies drive the EV transition across the EU.
Explore the full analysis 👇
bit.ly/478jCu7
This difference is notable. Under the average 45% EV target for new car registrations by large companies that the EC proposal sets at member state level, only six countries would see their corporate market lead the EV race.
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If the targets are left as they are, as the latest proposal intends to do, gains for carmakers would be much more limited, with large companies achieving only 37% of their 2030 EV sales.
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NEW: The upcoming EU fleets law could provide up to 57% of the EV sales carmakers need to reach their 2030 EU targets...
But only if lawmakers increase the proposed fleets targets in the Regulation on Clean Corporate Vehicles to require large companies to lead the EV transition.
🧵⤵️
📣 MEPs from across the political spectrum reaffirm their commitment to civil society
The Interest Group on Civil Society is calling on policymakers to stand with civil society, now more than ever as they face increasing pressure.
Find ways that MEPs can protect civil society: bit.ly/3OuusUV
If this growth continues, Europe could reach 100% zero-emission city buses by 2028. It’s time to turn this momentum into a full transformation of Europe’s bus fleet.
Check out the full analysis ⤵️
bit.ly/4qPVJif
Some other success stories from T&E’s analysis:
➡️ Another six countries reached over 90% ZE bus shares: the Netherlands 🇳🇱, Luxembourg 🇱🇺, Finland 🇫🇮, Belgium 🇧🇪, Lithuania 🇱🇹, and Romania 🇷🇴.
➡️ Three out of four new city buses in the UK were zero-emission, making it the top-performing major market.
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NEW: Six out of ten new EU city buses were zero-emission in 2025, led by four countries where 100% of new buses were battery-electric: Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia & Latvia.
That’s a huge leap from just 12% in 2019 when the EU adopted the Clean Vehicles Directive.
🧵⤵️
The EU's aviation climate rules won't cause the dramatic business losses that legacy carriers are claiming.
The problem of carbon leakage does exist, but airlines are exaggerating the risk as an excuse to weaken climate rules.
Our reply in today's @financialtimes.com 👇
bit.ly/40aGcOW
For an indepth look at the 2025 market, see our marketwatch dashboard:
www.transportenvironment.org/topics/cars/...
🇪🇸 In Spain, EV sales increased 14% despite the promised new subsidies not yet being implemented.
🇩🇪 Germany should soon see the impact of new subsidies announced in mid-January.
Government policies to support electric cars were also instrumental:
🇫🇷 Social leasing and tax changes to electrify corporate fleets are ongoing in France.
🇮🇹 Purchase subsidies were introduced in Italy.
STILL SURGING: After a record year in 2025, EV sales continued to surge in January, up by nearly a quarter in the EU.
France (+52%), Italy (+41%) & Germany (+24%) saw huge surges thanks to the recent arrivals of more compact, affordable models, timed by carmakers to meet their EU car CO2 targets.
The current target provides the investment certainty Europe needs to scale up EV production and compete globally. The proposed changes would mean keeping the combustion engine and hybrid alive and rewarding the laggards.
Explore the briefing for more from our analysis ➡️ bit.ly/3Za91L5
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