The Baltic Sea is emerging as Europe’s blueprint for green shipping, but the regulatory and financial framework isn’t sufficient for scaling green marine fuels. Green Shipping Corridors (GSCs) are among the most promising tools for decarbonising maritime transport. They create focused pilot environments for deploying alternative fuels, testing new technologies, and aligning port, fleet, and energy infrastructure. The Baltic Sea with its dense traffic, short sea routes, and network of innovative ports is a natural testbed.

As part of the Baltic Sea Green Shipping Corridors (BalticSea-GSC) project funded by the Swedish Institute, the project partners Port of Klaipeda, IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute and BPO recently brought together experts from Finland, Estonia, Sweden, and Lithuania – including representatives from the Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket), the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency (Traficom), and the Estonian Ministry of Climate (Kliimaministeerium) – to map the policy and financial landscape supporting GSC development.

The picture is clear: across the region, there are no dedicated GSC-specific financial instruments or regulatory frameworks at the national level. What exists is a patchwork – general green transition funds, voluntary port incentive schemes (ESI/CSI-based discounts), and EU-level regulatory and funding mechanisms like FuelEU Maritime, the ETS (maritime), CEF and the Innovation Fund.

The barriers are consistent across the BSR countries:

• High CAPEX for onshore power supply, bunkering infrastructure, and fleet retrofits.
• Regulatory uncertainty, particularly around IMO Net Zero Framework and alternative fuel standards.
• Weak demand-side signals for green fuels and limited engagement of finance sector.
• Fragmented coordination between ports, ship operators, and energy suppliers.

The recommendations that emerge are equally consistent: corridor designation frameworks, Contracts for Difference for green fuels, integrative policies linking ports with hinterland actors, and early involvement of Baltic Sea Region member states in shaping EU policy instruments.
The Baltic Sea region is already one of the most advanced maritime decarbonisation ecosystems globally. And while the EU is rightly beginning to frame GSCs as assets with triple value: commercial, sustainability, and strategic resilience, what the region needs now is for that framing to translate into concrete, corridor-specific mechanisms on both the EU and national level.

We are grateful to all colleagues and partner institutions whose expertise and commitment make this work possible. We welcome involvement from organisations and experts interested in contributing to this work. To express interest, please contact the Project Leader Ignė Stalmokaitė (IVL) at igne.stalmokaite@ivl.se.