LONDON, CMC—The United States and Saudi Arabia ended talks Friday aimed at reaching an agreement that would have seen shipping become the world’s first industry to adopt internationally mandated targets to reduce shipping emissions.
Some key countries that had initially voted to support the deal in April switched sides and agreed to delay proceedings. These included the Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, Haiti, and Suriname, which all abstained, while Trinidad and Tobago, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Jamaica, and Belize voted for the deferral.
Earlier this week, Antigua and Barbuda and the Bahamas publicly indicated that they were not in favor of the so-called Net-Zero Shipping Framework (NZF), which aims to reduce emissions in the maritime sector.
They said they did not support the measure pushed by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), which was approved in April this year.
Prime Minister Gaston Browne said Antigua and Barbuda favors deferring the adoption of the proposal as it will likely affect the cost of living for the people of this country. Bahamas Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell said his country had, some time ago, written to the IMO to ask for the vote to be postponed. If the ballot is not delayed, we expect to abstain.
The United States had publicly opposed the measure and had warned countries of reprisals if they supported the NZF.
“The attempts from the US and others to delay the adoption of the IMO’s Net-Zero Framework are an affront to multilateralism and fly in the face of the courage and ambition shown by member states when it was agreed in April. Thankfully, this is not a foregone conclusion, and countries can continue to demonstrate the spirit of solidarity they showed in April when voting to adopt the Framework,” said Emma Fenton, senior director for climate diplomacy at a UK-based climate change nonprofit, Opportunity Green.
More than 100 countries gathered in London to approve a deal. Despite an appeal by the IMO Secretary General, Arsenio Domingue, for representatives not to be intimidated by Washington, the meeting ended with a vote.
Saudi Arabia tabled a motion to adjourn the talks for a year, with the IMO indicating that this would mean that the agreement was not approved, as key timelines for the treaty would have to be revised.
The motion passed by just a handful of votes.
The NZF sought to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from international shipping to align with the 2050 net-zero target. Key components include a Global Fuel Standard (GFS) setting annual GHG intensity reduction targets, a two-tier carbon price mechanism, and a credit trading system funded by penalties to reward zero and near-zero-emission fuels and support a just transition.
The NZF introduced a new regulatory era requiring ships to gradually adopt fuels that are typically three to four times more expensive than conventional fossil fuels. Given the long lifespan of ships, shipowners should prepare now for the new net-zero GHG emission regulations to ensure cost-effective compliance, both at the boat and the fleet level.
The Framework would have applied to all oceangoing ships over 5,000 gross tonnage (GT). These ships are responsible for over 85 percent of global shipping emissions and are already covered by reporting requirements for fuel data collection. Ships under 5,000 GT are currently not covered.
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