EU member states reached a preliminary agreement on Thursday to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the maritime transport sector by increasing the use of renewable fuels by ships, Reuters reports.

The provisional agreement puts maritime transport on a path towards meeting the EU’s climate objectives for 2030 and 2050, by improving the targets for reducing emissions from the energy used by ships and introducing measures to encourage the use of so-called renewable fuels of non-biological origin, according to Agerpres.

“The agreement will ensure that fuel suppliers, ships and maritime operators will have enough time to adapt to the new conditions so that the maritime sector will achieve the climate objectives,” said the Swedish Minister of Infrastructure, Andreas Carlson.

The agreement agreed between the representatives of the member states and the EU Parliament will have to be formally adopted by the EU ministers.