NGOs challenge fossil fuel planes and ships in EU Taxonomy in International Shipping News 18/02/2026 On Tuesday 24 February, a coalition of NGOs – including Opportunity Green – will face the European Commission at the EU General Court in Luxembourg. The case challenges the Commission’s decision to allow fossil fuel-powered planes and ships to be labelled as ‘sustainable investments’ under the EU Taxonomy – the EU’s flagship green finance classification system. The hearing follows the Commission’s refusal to review the criteria after a formal request by the NGOs in early 2024. The stakes are high. Planes and ships have lifespans of 25-30 years, meaning investments labelled ‘green’ today lock in fossil fuel use for decades. The current criteria allow LNG-powered vessels and conventional fossil-fuelled aircraft to qualify as sustainable. These criteria undermine the Taxonomy’s credibility and misdirect capital away from true clean alternatives. This case is one of three legal challenges to the Taxonomy’s criteria, signalling broad concern that the EU’s green investment standard is being watered down. A judgment may take another 9-11 months after the hearing. If the court rules in the NGOs’ favour, the Commission will have to review the criteria and should adopt new, more ambitious – and truly sustainable – criteria for these sectors. David Kay, Legal Director of Opportunity Green says: “With every day that goes by, the EU Taxonomy is misdirecting more money to ships and planes that will pollute the planet for decades to come. This hearing marks a critical moment: we now need a ruling from the General Court to ensure that ships and planes running on fossil fuels are no longer allowed be labelled as ‘sustainable’. Only by focusing on truly sustainable activities can the EU Taxonomy achieve its original purpose: to move our economy from directly fuelling the climate crisis to restoring and sustaining our planet.” Source: Opportunity Green 2026-02-18 hellenicshippingnews... window.___gcfg = {lang: 'en-US'}; (function(w, d, s) { function go(){ var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], load = function(url, id) { if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.src = url; js.id = id; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }; load('//connect.facebook.net/en/all.js#xfbml=1', 'fbjssdk'); load('https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js', 'gplus1js'); load('//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js', 'tweetjs'); } if (w.addEventListener) { w.addEventListener("load", go, false); } else if (w.attachEvent) { w.attachEvent("onload",go); } }(window, document, 'script')); tweet Share