IMO Adjourns Net‑Zero Framework for One Year After Contentious Session

After a fractious session of the International Maritime Organisation’s Marine Environment Protection Committee, member states voted to adjourn consideration of the Net-Zero Framework (NZF) for one year.

This has delayed a decision on a proposed global standard for shipping decarbonisation, which had been expected to set the sector’s first worldwide carbon pricing and fuel standard.

The adjournment vote, taken on 17th October 2025, passed with 57 countries in favour and 49 against, leaving the NZF shelved until the session reconvenes in October 2026. 

The IMO stressed that technical work to build consensus will continue in the interim and that amendments to MARPOL would proceed where possible, but the outcome provoked widespread disappointment among environmental groups, many shipping stakeholders, and smaller island nations. It also drew public praise from some national officials.

The framework, originally negotiated and agreed in principle in April 2025, had attracted support from 63 member states earlier in the year and would have created binding measures on fuel carbon intensity alongside a global pricing and reward mechanism. 

Proponents argued it would deliver clarity and a level playing field for an industry that transports the majority of world trade, yet critics warned of economic impacts and regional competitive distortions.

“While the Net-Zero Framework is far from perfect, adopting it would have been an important step to deliver on the IMO’s commitment and send key signals to an industry that was not only asking for a global framework, but actively supported this deal,” said the Clean Shipping Coalition’s Representative at the IMO, John Maggs.

The United States, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Liberia and Saudi Arabia were reported among those opposing adoption, while China, the European Union, Brazil, and the United Kingdom openly supported the NZF. Cyprus, Greece, and Malta indicated they might break the EU bloc position by voting against or abstaining.

The day before the vote, U.S. President Donald Trump posted that he was opposed to “this Global Green New Scam Tax on Shipping” and warned against the creation of a “Green New Scam Bureaucracy,” an intervention that delegates said added political strain. 

The U.S. delegation’s public posture and private warnings of tariffs and port levies were cited by several delegations as factors in their decision calculus.

Faced with the risk that a formal adoption could fail to achieve the necessary authoritative majority and be overturned if states representing more than half of registered tonnage objected in writing, the IMO Secretariat proposed an adjournment. The motion to delay was carried after many countries that had not declared firm positions voted in favour of postponement.

Reactions were polarised. U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, called it “another huge win,” and U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, posted that U.S. leadership had blocked a “massive UN tax hike.” 

Within the IMO, Secretary‑General, Arsenio Dominguez, who had earlier expressed confidence adoption was possible, was subdued after the vote and said officials would need time to regroup.

The International Chamber of Shipping said it was disappointed and warned that the delay perpetuates regulatory uncertainty. The European Shipping Council reiterated the need for global rules to ensure a level playing field. 

“Geopolitics derailed the green transition,” Danish Shipping’s CEO, Anne H. Steffensen, said, and described the outcome as a failure to conclude a crucial climate agreement for international shipping.

“By delaying adoption of its Net Zero Framework, IMO has today squandered an important opportunity to tackle global shipping's contribution to climate breakdown,” Maggs said.

The adjournment does not necessarily mark the end of the NZF, but instead sets a year‑long period for redrafting and coalition‑building. Supporters may use the interval to modify text and shore up votes, while opponents signalled a preference either to see the framework defeated outright or reshaped substantially.

However, prolonged delay risks regulatory fragmentation if regions or major flag and port states pursue their own measures, creating the patchwork of rules many in the industry say would hinder efficient decarbonisation. 

The UCL Energy Institute said the failure to adopt the framework was damaging to confidence in a predictable global path for emissions reduction, with Professor Tristan Smith describing the result as “catastrophic for confidence, and therefore also for the equitable and ambitious decarbonization we need”.

Attention turns to the MEPC’s next full session and the Inter-sessional Working Group processes through 2026, where delegates will continue technical work on guidelines and try to close remaining political gaps.
 

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