We’re requesting that ships transiting to and from European ports slow their speeds to reduce ocean noise, risk of collision with whales, and greenhouse gas emissions.
Many of Europe’s busiest shipping lanes overlap directly with areas where whales are feeding, giving birth, nursing their young or migrating. Ships moving at high speeds create high levels of underwater noise and also put whales at high risk of collision, causing unnecessary stress, injury and death. We cannot let this continue.
This is why we are calling on the EU institutions to adopt Blue Speeds, an EU-wide measure for the implementation of slower commercial ship speeds, as a condition of entry into European ports.
On 12 September 2025, IFAW delivered your petition signatures to the European Commission, in Brussels – demonstrating the massive support we received from European citizens for reduced ship speeds.
Blue Speeds requires a small change for a big outcome.
Globally, we know that by reducing ship speeds by just 10%, we can:
- Reduce ocean noise pollution from shipping by around 40%,
- Reduce the risk of ships colliding with whales by about 50%, and
- Lower greenhouse gas emissions from shipping by 13%.
Our petition has shown how much support there is for this initiative, now we call on the EU institutions to adopt Blue Speeds – an EU-wide measure for the implementation of slower ship speeds as a condition of entry into European ports. Concretely this means a 75% maximum ship design speed ceiling.
*The number of signatures displayed represents the total collected by IFAW and Avaaz combined