Trump Administration trips up adoption of IMO Net-Zero Framework

An intense, months-long pressure and lobbying campaign conducted by the United States has resulted in the delaying of a vote on the adoption of the IMO Net-Zero Framework (NZF) by a year. A positive vote by delegates at an extraordinary meeting of IMO MEPC on 17 October would have resulted in the landmark adoption of the first global tax on shipping emissions, which would have come into force by March 2027.

The day before the vote, on 16 October, President Trump wrote on X, formerly Twitter:

“I am outraged that the International Maritime Organization is voting in London this week to pass a global carbon tax. The United States will not stand for this global green new scam tax on shipping and will not adhere to it in any way, shape or form. We will not tolerate increased prices on American consumers or the creation of a Green New Scam bureaucracy to spend your money on their green dreams. Stand with the United States and vote no in London tomorrow!”

President Trump outlined several punitive measures against those voting for the measure, including port fees, sanctions, visa restrictions on crews and other ‘penalties’ for ‘nations in favour’ of the NZF.

"A number of island states were coerced by the US into reversing their stance on the NZF"

Adding their voices of dissent in social media posts during the week of the MEPC extraordinary meeting were Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Energy Chris Wright. Secretary Rubio wrote on X: “This week, the UN is attempting to pass the first global carbon tax, which will increase energy, food, and fuel costs across the world. We will not allow the UN to tax American citizens and companies.”

Added Mr Rubio: “The US will be a hard NO.”

An opinion piece by the editorial board of The Wall Street Journal, published on 14 October, railed against the NZF and its carbon tax, which would be collected by IMO into a Net Zero Fund, highlighting concerns around mismanagement and corruption.

“The IMO says this money pot, to be managed by agency staff, would support innovation in green shipping and ‘reward low-emission ships’,” it stated.

It continued: “That’s bad enough as an invitation to opaque special dealing and corruption. But the IMO also contemplates using the funds for ‘just-transition initiatives in developing countries’ and to ‘mitigate negative impacts’ of climate change on ‘vulnerable States’.”

Elsewhere, the BBC reported a number of island states, many of which are likely to bear the brunt of climate change through rising sea levels, were coerced by the US into reversing their stance on the NZF.

It reported: “A delegate from the island states group told the BBC that these nations [Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda] particularly rely on the US for trade and had been leaned on heavily by the Trump administration to change their position.”