Negotiations at the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) extraordinary meetings were adjourned without a decision on the shipping industry’s Net-Zero Framework.
By Climate Spotlight
Threats levied by the Trump Administration, along with the US State Department, on member nations of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) derailed a vote to pass the first-ever global carbon tax during the second extraordinary meeting of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) held this week in London. The vote on the passing of the Net-Zero Framework (NZF), agreed in April, will be adjourned for one year.
“Today’s adjournment is a disappointing setback for shipping, but not the end of this journey,” said Global Maritime Forum Decarbonisation Director Jesse Fahnestock.
“The adjournment for a full year creates serious challenges for meeting the timelines in the Net-Zero Framework agreed in April and will make delivery of the sector’s decarbonisation targets even more challenging,” she said.
Countries that agreed to the passing of the NZF on Friday are asked to continue working to create guidelines for implementation to pave the way for adoption next year. The Net-Zero Framework will inform the design of rewards for zero and near-zero fuels, define the use of funds for a just and equitable transition, and provide clarity on emission accounting as soon as possible.
The adoption would have created the first legally binding carbon tax. While the shipping industry tends to slip under the radar when it comes to climate impact, the global shipping sector is responsible for around 3% of global heating pollution annually — a figure that could increase to 17% according to a 2018 analysis by the European Parliament.
This week, increased divisions between oil-producing and non-oil-producing nations created an impasse, pushing the vote to approve the NZF on Friday, October 17. Pushback from major producers Russia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and most notably the United States of America, smothered the vote and forced the adjournment.
Delegates agreed to a hastily arranged resolution to postpone proceedings.
“I am outraged that the International Maritime Organization is voting in London this week to pass a global carbon tax,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform Thursday.
President Trump campaigned to kill the first global carbon-pricing system by threatening to impose sanctions, visa restrictions, and port levies on those supporting the NZF. “The United States will NOT stand for this Global Green New Scam Tax on Shipping,” Trump added, urging countries to vote against it.
Several other members of the IMO, including China, the EU, Brazil, and Britain, reaffirmed their support for the NZF.
The framework requires ships to progressively reduce carbon emissions starting in 2028 or face financial penalties. The CO₂ pricing plan should encourage the sector to use less fossil fuel. This plan would bill ships for emissions that pass a certain threshold and use those proceeds to reward low-emission vessels and support countries vulnerable to climate change.
