Imo Approves Net-Zero Rules For Shipping

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has agreed to establish a legally binding framework to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from ships globally, aiming for net-zero emissions by or close to 2050.

The IMO Net-zero Framework is the  first in the world to combine mandatory emissions limits and GHG pricing across an entire industry sector, the IMO said in a statement.

The agreement came after a vote in the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) 83rd session from 7–11 April 2025, and will be formally adopted in October 2025 before entry into force in 2027.

The measures include a new fuel standard for ships and a global pricing mechanism for emissions to address climate change.

The agreement will become mandatory for large ocean-going ships over 5,000 gross tonnage, which emit 85% of the total CO2 emissions from international shipping.

By 2028, all ships worldwide have to start using a less-carbon intensive fuels mix, or pay for the excess. A ship continuing to use conventional (fossil) bunker fuel would have to pay a $380 fee on its most intensive emissions, and $100 per ton on remaining emissions above a lower threshold, the IMO said.

“The approval of draft amendments to MARPOL Annex VI mandating the IMO net-zero framework represents another significant step in our collective efforts to combat climate change, to modernize shipping and demonstrates that IMO delivers on its commitments,” IMO secretary-general Arsenio Dominguez said at the close of the meeting.

MARPOL is the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, adopted at the IMO in 1973.

The IMO Net-Zero Framework will be included in a new Chapter 5 of Annex VI (Prevention of air pollution from ships) to the MARPOL. MARPOL Annex VI currently has 108 Parties, covering 97% of the world’s merchant shipping fleet by tonnage, and already includes mandatory energy efficiency requirements for ships.

The goal is to achieve climate targets set out in the 2023 IMO Strategy on the Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships, accelerate the introduction of zero and near zero GHG fuels, technologies and energy sources, and support a just and equitable transition, according to the IMO.

In 2023, the IMO agreed that both economic and technical measures were necessary to deliver on its climate commitment of 20% emission reduction by 2030, 80% emission reduction by 2040, reaching zero by/around 2050 in an equitable way.

Under the draft regulations, ships will be required to comply with:

The regulations feature two levels of compliance with GHG Fuel Intensity targets: a Base Target and a Direct Compliance Target at which ships would be eligible to earn “surplus units”.

Ships that emit above the set thresholds can balance their emissions deficit by:

The IMO Net-Zero Fund will be established to collect pricing contributions from emissions. These revenues will then be disbursed to:

Upon approval, the draft amendments to MARPOL Annex VI will be formally circulated to IMO member states, followed by:

The meeting discussed a range of issues related to protecting the marine environment from shipping activities, with the following key outcomes:

The agreement will achieve only 8% absolute emission reduction by 2030, according to UK maritime consultancy UMAS, noting this falls short of the IMO’s own goals in the Revised Strategy of 20% emission reduction by 2030, while striving for 30%.

The carbon intensity-based regulation will allow fossil LNG initially, but this fossil fuel will increasingly be penalized throughout the 2030s, undermining the business case for LNG ships.

The compromise is expected to raise $30 to $40 billion by 2030, to be used to fund clean energy use on ships. However, Pacific Island states say this is not enough.

The result was 63 countries voting in favor, including Brazil, China, the EU, India, Japan, Korea, South African, Singapore, and Norway among others, while 16 countries voted against, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, Venezuela, Russia, Venezuela and other petro-states.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other petro-states disagreed over the issue of procedure and the “high” level of ambition in the discussions.

Abstaining were 25 countries including Pacific Island states (Kiribati, Fiji, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Nauru, Palau, and Vanuatu), Seychelles, Argentina, and others.

Tuvalu expressed concerns with the outcome on behalf of the Pacific Islands in the plenary, regarding the need for stronger energy incentives; intransparency and exclusion of Pacific voices from the negotiation process; and promoting just and equitable transition.

“Let us be clear about who has abandoned 1.5°C. Saudi Arabia, the US and fossil fuel allies pushed down the numbers to an untenable level and blocked progress at every turn. These countries – and others – failed to support a set of measures that would have gotten the shipping industry onto a 1.5°C pathway. And they turned away a proposal for a reliable source of revenue for those of us in dire need of finance to help with climate impacts,” said Ralph Regenvanu, Minister of Climate Change Adaptation, Meteorology, Geo-Hazards, Environment, Energy, and Disaster Management of Vanuatu.

Ambassador Albon Ishoda, Marshall Islands Special Envoy for Maritime Decarbonization, said: “We are not done. We will be back. Alongside our friends from the Caribbean, the Pacific, Africa, Central America, and the UK. Still standing. Still steering.”

Emma Fenton, Senior Director, Climate Diplomacy, Opportunity Green, said: “The IMO has made a historic decision, yet ultimately one that fails climate vulnerable countries and falls short of both the ambition the climate crisis demands and that member states committed to, just two years ago.”

Fenton added that the weak measure approved means aiming for a low bar “and dragging our feet to get there.”

It will neither ensure sufficient emissions reductions, nor raise revenues needed for a just and equitable transition. The IMO has turned down this historic opportunity to champion the perseverance, leadership, and ambition of climate vulnerable states, amongst them Pacific Islands, Caribbean and African states, who are on the frontlines of the climate crisis, said Fenton, who added that  states must work hard to remedy the situation.

Aoife O’Leary, Founder of the SASHA Coalition, said: “The IMO has passed up on a unique opportunity to guarantee the shipping industry’s long-term resilience and help it fulfil its climate ambitions. The sector’s only credible path to net zero that doesn’t compromise biodiversity is green hydrogen e-fuels. IMO measures could have delivered the incentives needed to jumpstart the transition to these fuels, creating the enabling regulatory environment to de-risk investment and unlock much-needed finances to scale production. Instead, delegates have agreed to a measure that may lock in the use of environmentally destructive biofuels and LNG.”

The baton now passes to the shipping industry itself to take ever bolder steps to raise the bar for climate action, and continue setting an example of strong leadership in spite of the IMO’s failures, said O’Leary.

Jamie Yates, Climate and Renewable Energy Analyst, Pacific Environment, said: “This is a significant moment where the IMO has delivered targets, but failed to meet its own ambition on delivering a just and equitable transition and properly incentivizing sustainable long term fuel and technology solutions.”

READ: IMO decarbonization strategy offers opportunities for green future