Confusion and disappointment after MEPC collapse
INDUSTRY groups have mostly lamented the collapse on Friday of International Maritime Organization talks to put a price on shipping pollution, though some welcomed the one-year delay.
The Marine Environment Protection Committee was adjourned for one year, postponing the big vote on adopting the Net-Zero Framework following aggressive lobbying against it by the US and Saudi Arabia.
Several shipowners’ groups said the delay meant prolonged uncertainty over fleet renewal and a greater chance of overlapping regional rules instead of a simpler, global framework.
V. Group commercial director for decarbonisation James Helliwell called it a profound setback.
“What had broad support six months ago has been derailed by a coordinated opposition campaign, leaving the industry facing precisely the fragmented regulatory landscape we sought to avoid,” Helliwell said.
“Rather than one global framework, operators must prepare for multiple regional requirements, each with different compliance mechanisms, timelines and costs.”
Global Maritime Forum decarbonisation director Jesse Fahnestock said there was still much support for the NZF, noting the decisive vote for its approval in April.
“There’s good reason to feel that adoption is still the preferred path forward at the IMO,” he said.
“That said, it’s difficult to predict how the politics of the opposition will look in a year’s time, given everything we saw last week.”
Clarifying the NZF guidelines on emissions accounting, green rewards and support for vulnerable countries could help make the framework more robust and strengthen its chances of adoption, he said.
The Pacific Islands bloc had pushed hardest for a carbon price in the past few years and reacted with disgust at the US’ actions. Several delegates walked out of the IMO chamber in protest on Friday.
Marshall Islands ambassador Albon Ishoda said on LinkedIn: “Don’t pretend that the Pacific was voiceless: We were ignored, bullied, threatened, cornered, sidelined and harassed, but we stood tall.”
Ishoda added: “A year delay is a year of more devastation and displacement for our communities that have nothing to do with this catastrophe.”
Transport & Environment shipping director Faig Abbasov said he was unsure whether the NZF was now a “zombie” regulation, as one European negotiator had called it.
“But one thing is becoming clear to me: the cold winter has started in UN climate talks,” Abbasov said.
The Union of Greek Shipowners, which opposed the NZF but supported an earlier carbon levy plan by the International Chamber of Shipping, welcomed the delay.
UGS president Melina Travlos said it “presents a new opportunity to shape a sustainable and effective international framework that will guide global shipping safely and realistically through the green transition”.
Intertanko managing director Tim Wilkins said: “This gives us time to improve the single regulatory maritime framework to cut emissions. Let’s use this opportunity to work collaboratively to tackle the ambiguities and concerns of the NZF raised by Intertanko members.”
Intercargo secretary-general Kosta Gkonis said: “The time ahead should be used constructively and effectively to bridge differing positions among IMO member states and to also ensure that the industry’s voice and input are heard and taken onboard.”
The IMO is still holding its scheduled meeting of the intersessional working group on greenhouse gas emissions, ISWG-GHG, this week.
That group, whose deliberations are closed to the press, adopted its agenda on Monday morning, in a sign countries can make progress on emissions work despite Friday’s result.
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