The European Commission has unveiled a €3 billion Sustainable Transport Investment Plan (STIP) to accelerate the transition of Europe’s aviation and maritime sectors toward renewable and low-carbon fuels. Announced on November 5, 2025, the initiative aims to close the investment gap that has hindered large-scale production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and sustainable maritime fuel (SMF) within the EU.

Under the plan, aviation and shipping—together responsible for around 8.4 percent of the EU’s greenhouse-gas emissions—will receive priority support to meet steep decarbonization targets. By 2035, SAF must make up 20 percent of all jet fuel supplied at EU airports (including 5 percent eSAF), while maritime fuels must cut their emissions intensity by 14.5 percent. The Commission estimates that reaching these goals will require about €100 billion in total investment, mostly from private capital, but with public mechanisms to reduce risk and improve financing access.

The EU will mobilize about €2.9 billion by 2027 from existing programs—chiefly the Innovation Fund, InvestEU, and Horizon Europe—to trigger early-stage investments. The Innovation Fund alone has already awarded €446 million to nine pioneering SAF and SMF projects, and another €300 million auction under the European Hydrogen Bank will support hydrogen-based e-fuel production. InvestEU expects to unlock roughly €2 billion for clean-mobility projects over 2026–2027.

A key policy innovation is the creation of “double-sided auctions,” an EU-level market mechanism providing long-term price certainty for fuel producers and short-term contracts for buyers. A pilot worth €500 million will launch in 2026 under the Early Movers Alliance, paving the way for a full EU-wide system.

Internationally, the plan strengthens cooperation with partners such as Chile, South Africa, Thailand, and Australia through “Clean Trade and Investment Partnerships,” while advancing common sustainability standards within ICAO and IMO to avoid carbon leakage and unfair competition.

According to the Commission, this €3 billion plan is not only a climate strategy but an industrial policy tool to secure Europe’s technological leadership, energy independence, and competitiveness in the global green-fuel economy.