An intensive four-day IMO working group session aimed at finalising the Net-Zero Framework under MARPOL Annex VI ended without agreement on a new text, despite reaffirming the organisation’s goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping by around 2050. The proposed framework, built around a global marine fuel standard and a worldwide greenhouse-gas pricing mechanism for ships above 5,000 GT, remains politically endorsed but technically unfinished, forcing shipowners, charterers and fuel suppliers to delay major decarbonisation investments until at least the next negotiating round later this year.
Recent deliberations at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) on a new Net-Zero Framework for international shipping have concluded with no consensus on the final regulatory text, even though member states reiterated their commitment to the 2023 IMO GHG Strategy’s net-zero target around 2050. The draft new Chapter 5 of MARPOL Annex VI would apply to oceangoing ships above 5,000 gross tonnage and combines two central elements: a global marine fuel standard that progressively reduces the greenhouse-gas intensity of energy used on board, and a worldwide emissions pricing scheme designed to penalise non-compliant ships while rewarding cleaner alternatives. Negotiators reportedly failed to bridge differences on key commercial aspects such as price levels, tier structure and transition timelines, so the framework remains in a pre-adoption state ahead of further talks at MEPC later this year.
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