Landmark deal to cut global shipping emissions hits major hurdle
A landmark global deal to cut greenhouse gases emitted by the shipping industry has fallen through following interventions by the US and Saudi Arabia.
More than 100 countries had gathered in London on 17 October to approve the IMO Net-Zero Framework, which had been agreed in April after 10 years of negotiations. Had it passed, it would have seen shipping become the first industry to adopt internationally mandated targets to reduce emissions.
But the decision has been delayed after a motion tabled by Saudi Arabia to adjourn talks for a year passed narrowly.
Shipping currently makes up 3% of global emissions. The regulation – spearheaded by UN agency the International Maritime Organization – would require ships to gradually reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emitted for each unit of energy used across their fuel’s lifecycle.
To encourage the industry to comply with this global fuel standard, the regulation includes a pricing mechanism, with set prices for the greenhouse gases ships emit.
In the run up to the meeting, representatives of the Trump administration had threatened countries with tariffs and other economic penalties had they voted for the deal, which it said would lead to price rises for consumers.
The US and Russia voted in favour of Saudi Arabia’s motion to delay the talks, as did several countries that had initially agreed to the deal in April, including China and the Bahamas. Greece, Cyprus, and Antigua and Barbuda, which had also previously agreed to the treaty, were among those that chose to abstain from the vote.
Those in favour of the framework say the delay will allow its opponents to drum up support to kill it.
Celebration and disappointment
US secretary of state Marco Rubio declared the outcome a “huge win” for president Donald Trump, who had called the framework a “green scam” and said he was “outraged” by the effort to bring in the regulation.
European Commission executive vice president Teresa Ribera called the delay “a huge shame”, while Ralph Regenvanu, minister for climate change for Vanuatu – an island nation in the South Pacific which is particularly vulnerable to climate change – said Saudi Arabia’s motion was “unacceptable given the urgency we face in light of accelerating climate change”.
“We came to London in reluctant support of the IMO’s Net-Zero Framework. While it lacks the ambition that climate science demands, it does mark a significant step,” he said.
He said there had been “relentless pressure” from the US for countries to back its position.
Observers say the delay to the carefully mapped out timeline to get the regulation in place means it will not be feasible to implement it by 2028, as had been planned.
About Mia Hunt
Mia has been editor of globalgovernmentforum.com since 2019. She has 15 years’ experience as a journalist and editor and specialises in writing for civil and public servants worldwide, including covering sustainability policy and related issues. She has led the Global Government Women’s Network since it launched in 2023. Previously, she covered commercial property having been market reports and supplements editor at Property Week and deputy editor at Retail Destination. She graduated from Kingston University London with a first-class honours degree in journalism and was part of the team that produced The River newspaper, which won Publication of the Year at the Guardian Student Media Awards in 2010.
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