On September 1, 2026, the IMO’s Intersessional Working Group on Greenhouse Gas Emissions (ISWG‑GHG 22) convened in London to refine the draft Net‑Zero Framework, a proposed global regime combining mandatory limits on marine fuel greenhouse gas intensity with a pricing mechanism for non‑compliant ships. Under the draft, ships above 5,000 GT would face staged GHG intensity reductions against a 2008 baseline, with two compliance tiers and payments into an IMO Net‑Zero Fund via “Remedial Units” when thresholds are exceeded. The negotiations have sparked resistance from major maritime nations such as Cyprus and Greece, which argue that the parameters and cost levels must remain workable for the world fleet while still aligning with IMO’s 2050 net‑zero ambition.
On September 1, 2026, the International Maritime Organization opened the 22nd session of its Intersessional Working Group on Greenhouse Gas Emissions (ISWG‑GHG 22) in London, scheduled to run until September 4 as the first of two negotiation rounds before the Marine Environment Protection Committee meets later this year. The group is tasked with advancing the draft Net‑Zero Framework, which would establish the first global system that combines mandatory greenhouse gas intensity limits for marine fuels with a pricing mechanism applied to oceangoing ships above 5,000 gross tonnage, covering more than 85 percent of international shipping emissions. Compliance would be measured through a GHG Fuel Intensity (GFI) metric expressed in grams of CO₂‑equivalent per megajoule of energy, explicitly including carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide over the full fuel lifecycle from production and transport to onboard use. The draft foresees two compliance tiers: a base target requiring roughly a 4 percent reduction in fuel‑emission intensity by 2028 and about 30 percent by 2035 versus 2008, and a stricter direct‑compliance target starting around a 17 percent cut and rising to 43 percent, though these dates are expected to shift because adoption has been delayed.
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