31.8 C
Singapore
Monday, October 20, 2025
spot_img

Here’s how shipping, politicians are reacting to IMO vote to postpone carbon tax by one year

Must read

The United States won its last-ditch effort to block an international carbon tax on the shipping industry, delaying a vote on the proposal by one full year. The 2nd extraordinary session of the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee decided to delay adoption of new requirements on greenhouse gas fuel intensity, in combination with a pricing and reward mechanism. The meeting continues in October 2026.

The Marine Environment Protection Committee remained divided throughout the meeting and during the final day, a majority of 57 member states voted to adjourn the meeting for one year, while 49 voted to continue.

This means that the amendments were not adopted, and the meeting continues in October 2026. If adopted the possible entry into force will be on 1 March 2028 earliest.

Meanwhile, the Intersessional Working Group on the Reduction on Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Ships, scheduled to meet 20 to 24 October 2025, will go ahead to continue work on the guidelines for implementing the Net Zero Framework, according to IMO.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed Friday afternoon that the Trump administration “prevented a massive UN tax hike on American consumers that would have funded progressive climate pet projects.”

“This is another HUGE win for POTUS,” the US secretary said in a post on X.

Ambassador Mike Waltz, U.S. Representative to the UN, tweeted: “Thanks to the strong leadership of POTUS, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, and the team here at the US Mission to the UN, the IMO has backed off its misguided carbon tax vote. This is a shining example of diplomacy at its best – protecting American jobs, standing up for our industries, and putting AMERICA FIRST against ridiculous climate ideology.”

Delaying the vote comes as a shock, as many member states of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) were confident there were enough votes to adopt the measure.

But after four days of tough negotiations, countries agreed to delay a vote on whether to approve it by 12 months.

The decision came after a vociferous US campaign, with President Donald Trump calling it “Global Green New Scam Tax on Shipping” and the State Department threatening reprisals on countries supporting it.

Anne H. Steffensen, CEO of Danish Shipping, called the outcome “a major disappointment,” stating: “This is not what we came for. We came here to finally conclude a crucial climate agreement for international shipping. We from the Danish side have worked tirelessly towards this for a long time, so it’s a big disappointment.”

Thomas A. Kazakos, Secretary General of the International Chamber of Shipping expressed the industry’s frustration. “We are disappointed that member states have not been able to agree a way forward at this meeting. Industry needs clarity to be able to make the investments needed to decarbonise the maritime sector, in line with the goals set out in the IMO GHG strategy.”

Experts say the collapse of the talks marks not only a significant blow for attempts to clean up a heavily climate-polluting industry, undermining decades of negotiations, but also represents yet another failure of climate diplomacy.

“We regret today’s postponement of the adoption of the international climate agreement for shipping.

The IMO Net-Zero Framework is essential to give the industry the certainty it needs and to send a strong signal to the market to produce the clean fuels necessary to get to net zero,” said for the postponement the European Shipowners (ECSA), which represents 22 national shipowners’ associations based in the EU and Norway.

The World Shipping Council, while acknowledging the challenging negotiations at the IMO, underlined the importance of using the year ahead to clarify and develop the IMO Net-Zero Framework.

The liner industry has invested $150bn in ships designed to run on green fuels.

While the tax was supported by many IMO member states, the U.S. President Donald Trump and other countries vowed to fight any global tax on shipping emissions.

The Trump administration spent weeks calling on countries to reject the vote.

The US president Donald Trump has voiced its stance against the first of its kind global carbon tax, warning IMO member states to vote against the organisation’s Net-Zero Framework aimed at reducing global greenhouse gas emissions from the international shipping sector.

In a late-night post on his Truth Social platform on Thursday, Trump slammed the global carbon tax and slandered it for being a “Global Green New Scam Tax on Shipping.”

In a statement on Truth Social, Donald Trump said the United States would not comply with the measure and vowed to resist in any way, shape or form. Trump urged supporters to back the US stance and vote against the global carbon tax.

Expressing his staunch opposition to the framework, he wrote on Thursday (US time), “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.”

He went on to say, “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.”

IBIA (the International Bunker Industry Association) said that a working group meeting at IMO this week to prepare implementing guidelines will see an attempt to heal the diplomatic scars of the previous week.

“The MEPC Special Session demonstrated that the issue of reducing GHG emissions from ships, and in particular, the pricing of emissions, is politically contentious for many countries to the point that achieving a consensus at this stage is not possible and means the draft amendments for consideration will now have to be revised before being tabled again and pausing it for one year.

“IBIA had expected, together with a significant number of international associations, a different outcome of the extraordinary MEPC. IBIA supported the adoption of the ZNF and were already engaged in crucial work on the detailed guidelines.

Meanwhile, a majority of IMO’s Member States weren’t prepared to move ahead, making shipping the first sector with a global regulatory framework to decarbonise,” reads the IBIA’s statement.

The IMO secretary-general Arsenio Dominguez didn’t disclose information on specific countries’ steps to oppose the Net Zero Framework.

The secretary-general said only that the extraordinary session will be reconvened in 12 months’ time, and that in the interim, member states will continue to work towards consensus on the framework.

The IMO Net-Zero Framework was approved at the MEPC 83 session in April 2025, as a new chapter 5 of the Draft Revised Annex VI of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL). It comprises a set of international regulations aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from ships, in line with IMO’s 2023 Strategy for Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships. It includes two key elements: a global fuel standard and global GHG emissions pricing mechanism.

This is another HUGE win for @POTUS.

Thanks to his leadership, the United States prevented a massive UN tax hike on American consumers that would have funded progressive climate pet projects. Our country will continue to lead the way and put America FIRST.

— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) October 17, 2025

Thanks to the strong leadership of @POTUS, @SecRubio, @SecretaryWright, @SecDuffy, and the team here at the US Mission to the UN, the @IMOHQ has backed off its misguided carbon tax vote. This is a shining example of diplomacy at its best—protecting American jobs, standing up for…

— Ambassador Mike Waltz (@USAmbUN) October 17, 2025

As @POTUS and @SecRubio have made clear, the United States is a hard NO on @IMOHQ’s global carbon tax scheme that harms the American consumer. We’re calling on other nations to vote with us or face serious consequences. /uKX9dVeSK8

— Ambassador Mike Waltz (@USAmbUN) October 16, 2025

spot_img
- Advertisement -spot_img

More articles

- Advertisement -spot_img

Latest article

spot_img