Opportunity Green has urged IMO member states to preserve the core architecture of the Net-Zero Framework as four competing amendment packages put its fuel rules, carbon pricing and financing mechanism back in play ahead of September negotiations.
The framework, approved by the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee at MEPC 83 in April 2025, combines a global marine-fuel standard with a greenhouse-gas pricing mechanism. It would cover ocean-going ships above 5,000 gross tonnage, representing more than 85% of international shipping emissions covered by IMO estimates.
Formal adoption was due in October 2025, but the extraordinary MEPC session was adjourned for a year. Opportunity Green’s Aug. 5 analysis examines proposals from Liberia, Brazil, Tuvalu, and Australia, Canada, South Africa and the UK.
Liberia would remove remedial units and the Net-Zero Fund and shift compliance towards tradable Surplus Units.
Opportunity Green argues that this would increase exposure to market volatility, weaken investment signals for zero- and near-zero-emission fuels and remove dedicated financing for developing countries.
Brazil would largely retain the framework but slow the tightening of greenhouse-gas fuel-intensity targets in its early years, easing initial compliance costs while delaying stronger clean-fuel incentives and revenue flows.
Tuvalu proposes the biggest pricing change, with a 100% direct-compliance threshold and no Surplus Units. Its plan would triple the Tier 1 remedial-unit price from $100 to $300 per tonne of CO2-equivalent while keeping Tier 2 at $380.
Opportunity Green considers it the strongest option for emissions reduction but unlikely to secure sufficient support. Australia, Canada, South Africa and the UK would retain the framework essentially as agreed at MEPC 83, adjusting application dates for the one-year delay.
“The governments should protect this hard-fought agreement and resist attempts to weaken the core economic elements that underpin its effectiveness,” Opportunity Green Policy Officer Sapphire Ross said. Senior Director Em Fenton considers the existing framework the only credible proposal capable of preserving the multilateral agreement reached in 2025.
ISWG-GHG 22 is scheduled for Sept. 1-4, followed by another working-group meeting on Nov. 23-27 and MEPC 85 from Nov. 30 to Dec. 3. The adjourned extraordinary session is expected to resume on Dec. 4, subject to confirmation by MEPC 85.
Opportunity Green is a UK-registered climate charity, charity number 1199413, established in October 2021. Its work covers legal, economic and policy approaches to climate action, including international shipping.
