September 04, 2026
As a meeting on the climate
impacts of global shipping closed today at the International
Maritime Organization (IMO), the Clean Shipping Coalition
welcomed broad support by member states for the Net-Zero
Framework (NZF) – the UN shipping body’s long negotiated
compromise climate agreement, criticised attempts by a
minority of states to undermine it with ‘alternative
proposals’ and called for its adoption at December’s
Marine Environment Protect Committee.
“The Net-Zero
framework remains intact, despite pressure from a minority
of detractors seeking to undermine climate action by the
shipping sector, and must be adopted without further
delay”, said Clean Shipping Coalition President Lukas
Leppert. “Alternative proposals to the Net-Zero Framework
are neither necessary nor useful – the IMO has already
committed to a strategy, approved a regulatory framework
that can deliver it, and scheduled its adoption for later in
the year. While not entirely aligned with the levels of
ambition in the IMO 2023 GHG Strategy, the NZF is a
long-negotiated compromise that brings together a multitude
of interests and positions and is supported by a broad
majority. We consider the NZF an important step forward and
one that can be built on to become more progressive in the
future.”
“Many of the new proposals seem intent on
unravelling this existing compromise, not to find a better
agreement, but to appease a minority position by reducing
ambition”, said Leppert. “None of the outstanding concerns
are grave enough that they justify reworking the framework.
The NZF ‘as is’ includes all the critically necessary
elements required for the decarbonisation of the maritime
sector in line with 2023 IMO GHG Strategy in a just and
equitable manner. Open issues can and should be addressed
solely within the implementing guidelines.”
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“In
order to fulfil the goals of the GHG Strategy and to protect
our global climate, we urge the IMO and all its member
states to stay true to their ambition and the compromise
achieved and instead of reopening it, adopt the Net-Zero
Framework ‘as is’ at MEPC 85 in December”, Leppert
added.
The shipping sector makes up 2-3% of global
greenhouse gas emissions – pumping 1 billion tonnes of GHGs
into the atmosphere every year, comparable to the world’s
fifth biggest emitting country, Japan. The IMO has committed
to achieving its GHG Strategy goal, including its long-term
goal of decarbonisation by 2050, its interim targets of a
30% reduction in absolute emissions by 2030 and 80% by 2040,
and its commitment to a just and equitable
transition.
Approved during MEPC 83 in 2025, the NZF
includes a “global fuel standard” (GFS), which requires
ship operators to gradually decrease the amount of
greenhouse gas emitted by shipping fuels – or pay penalties.
The framework also introduces a mechanism that puts a price
on a portion of greenhouse gases ships emit, giving the
industry a clear financial incentive to reduce emissions in
line with the global fuel standard. See also: IMO paper on
the NZF – MEPC 85/3/8: Consideration And Adoption of
Amendments to Mandatory Instruments: Amendments to MARPOL
Annex VI.
“The curve of increasingly stringent
required annual reductions in the greenhouse gas intensity
of shipping fuels is a critical component of the NZF and it
is already insufficient to reach the reduction goals set in
the 2023 GHG Strategy”, said Delaine McCullough, Shipping
Program Director at Ocean Conservancy. “Weaker short-term
targets will favour short-term solutions, instead of setting
the clear market signal that is needed to drive investments
in zero- and near-zero fuels and technologies. That is why
member states must hold the line on no weakening of this
powerful component of the NZF.”
“The maritime
sector requires a clear regulatory signal for the transition
to allow a global level playing field as well as planning
security for the ramp-up of sustainable solutions”, said
Sönke Diesener, Senior Policy Officer Maritime Transport at
NABU. “The industry has voiced their support for the IMO
Net-Zero Framework in the past and should continue to . The
NZF is set up to accommodate different levels of technical
readiness and fuel availability to enable reliable
investment signals for the industry.”
“This
week’s meeting included submissions that advantage
methane-based fuels such as LNG and biomethane, potentially
locking in methane – a potent super pollutant – for many
years to come and preventing the adoption of truly zero
emissions fuels and a decarbonation pathway in line with the
IMO’s own ambitions”, said Andrew Dumbrille,
Co-Director, Equal Routes. “The IMO Life Cycle GHG
Assessment guidelines must account for biodiversity and
human rights impacts and avoid false accounting methods
which would reward fuels for reductions that were never
actually achieved.”
“A just transition cannot
happen alone”, said Anaïs Rios, Senior Shipping Policy
Officer at Seas At Risk. “Many of the countries most
exposed to the impacts of climate change are those with the
least financial capacity to shoulder the costs of the
transition. Without a central fund, the IMO has no credible
way to ensure that they are not left behind. Member states
agreed in 2023 that shipping’s transition must be just and
equitable. Reopening the question of whether the finance to
deliver the transition is needed risks unravelling the
commitment. Countries should not waste precious negotiating
time reopening questions that have already been answered.
The task is now to make the transition work for
everyone.”
“Financial rewards are also required to
accelerate the uptake of true zero- and near-zero emission
fuels and technologies”, said Alex Springer, Interim
Shipping Director at T&E. “This is even more pressing
if aspects like the GFI trajectory are weakened. A direct
contribution scheme would be a poor substitute for a
well-organised and transparent fund, putting resources out
of reach of the most vulnerable countries, and providing no
certainty for first movers.”
About the Clean
Shipping Coalition:
The Clean Shipping
Coalition is an international association of civil society
environmental protection organisations, and the only one
with a purely shipping focus.
We help develop and
drive global environment and climate laws on shipping,
principally at the United Nation’s shipping regulator, the
International Maritime Organization.
https://cleanshipping.org/
