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International Maritime Organization Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said decarbonization efforts continue to move forward despite the Net-Zero Framework not securing approval in 2025
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Dominguez said last year’s non-approval of the proposed framework provides them more time to further enhance it and “to have a better understanding on how we’re going to move forward”
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The IMO chief said the next conversations will take place in April
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Concerns raised last October will be addressed when talks resume
International Maritime Organization (IMO) Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said decarbonization efforts are still moving forward despite the Net-Zero Framework (NZF) failing to secure approval in 2025.
Dominguez said last year’s non-approval of the proposed framework provides them more time to further enhance it and “to have a better understanding on how we’re going to move forward.”
“What [is] important to take from that meeting, for me, is the concerns that we’re raising–how we need to look into providing further guidance for the implementations of these technical and economic measures, how we address concerns in relation to the new technologies in the alternative fuels …without them being seen as penalized, how the funds will be distributed within the sector and how it will enhance the transition into a decarbonized shipping sector,” he said in a press briefing at the sidelines of the recent regional forum on the effective implementation of the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarer Convention and Code held in the Philippines.
The IMO agreed to adjourn the extraordinary session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), which was convened from October 14 to 17 last year, after failing to get a consensus or call a vote for the NZF.
READ: Shipping emissions pact fails to get approval, talks to resume next year
Approved by the MEPC in April 2025, the NZF is a new set of international regulations aimed at reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from ships, in line with IMO’s 2023 GHG Strategy. It will amend Annex VI of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), which sets rules for reducing air pollution from shipping and improving energy efficiency.
Saudi Arabia during the MEPC session tabled a motion to adjourn the talks for a year, to which the U.S. and Russia agreed. More than 100 countries attended the IMO meeting. The motion passed by just a handful of votes.
The U.S. had raised concerns that the deal would lead to price rises for consumers, and had threatened sanctions on countries that would approve the pact. These sanctions include blocking vessels registered in those countries from US ports; imposing visa restrictions and higher fees for maritime crew members; commercial penalties stemming from US government contracts and/or other financial penalties on ships flagged under nations in favor of the NZF; imposing additional port fees on ships owned, operated, or flagged by countries supporting the NZF; and sanctions on officials sponsoring activist-driven climate policies.
IMO after the October session said the extraordinary session will be reconvened in 12 months’ time while in the interim, member states will continue to work towards consensus on the NZF.
“As I said earlier, IMO is not immune to the geopolitical situations and the conflicts that are going on around the world,” Dominguez noted.
“But what is a reality is that the decarbonization has already started. We know of a number of projects as well as new ships that are already in development and soon to be operating on ammonia, methanol, and ethanol. We see the increase of ships that are ready to operate with alternative fuels, that are alternative fuels ready, as well as the longer plans that companies are developing because we still have the 2023 GHG strategy to decarbonize the sector by around 2030,” Dominguez said.
READ: Shipping industry prepares for huge investments in decarbonization
He added that “we are already very close to meeting some of the requirements and objectives for 2030, like the reduction of emissions of 20% aiming at 30%.”
The GHG Strategy includes indicative checkpoints for international shipping to reach net-zero GHG emissions for 2030 (by at least 20%, striving for 30%) and 2040 (by at least 70%, striving for 80%) compared to 2008.
“So we’re still moving ahead with decarbonization and learning from the experiences of the last few sessions in order to enhance the framework for the next run of negotiations,” Dominguez said.
The IMO chief said the next conversations will take place in April, and then they will start addressing the concerns that were highlighted last October.
MEPC also has two sessions this year, the 84th session in April-May and 85th session in November.—Roumina Pablo
