IMO Global Net-Zero Framework (NZF) takes shape

11 April 2025

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
11 April 2025

The IMO took a step forward in its development of a global net-zero framework at this week’s MEPC 83 meeting, however, the process necessitated a vote by Member States, moving away from the IMO’s consensus building approach. The negotiations were affected by regional blocks, and the absence of the US.

It is essential that agreement is reached on a global net-zero regulatory framework at the IMO and that certainty is provided to the international shipping industry. This must be a genuinely global framework that paves the way for regional GHG requirements to be aligned to a single international standard.

A key development at MEPC 83 was the vote on the GHG Fuel Intensity (GFI) trajectory. In a move away from the consensus building approach that has been the foundation of legislative development at the IMO, a vote was required to conclude discussion on this particular issue. This element of the draft framework is essential in ensuring alignment between international and regional regulations. GFI trajectory alignment will be essential to ensure clarity for shipowners, particularly those who successfully implemented energy efficiency measures and have invested in transitional fuels and technologies.

INTERTANKO informed MEPC that it should be recognised that the tanker industry began preparing for decarbonisation long before the IMO’s draft framework took shape, adding that Members have already started making significant preparations — including investment decisions, commercial agreements and planning — to comply with upcoming fuel and emissions requirements in the FuelEU Maritime Regulation, which the two-tier technical element of the draft framework is modelled on. Introducing another set of unrealistic targets much higher than what the industry had been working towards, will derail these efforts and hinder the energy transition of the industry.

INTERTANKO’s Senior Technical Manager, KC Wong commented that, ‘with the draft framework now in place, the focus must turn to the critical work of implementation. A long list of implementing guidelines for the draft framework remains to be developed and amended, underscoring the scale and complexity of what lies ahead. It is essential that future discussions on the implementing guidelines involve and recognise the industry’s crucial role in achieving the desired GHG reductions’.

INTERTANKO’s Managing Director, Tim Wilkins, commented on the process used to reach agreement this week, stating that, ‘in an unusual move, non-Governmental organisations, including INTERTANKO, were excluded from much of the “closed-door” discussions on the emissions reduction trajectories. This ignored the vital contribution that the industry makes by bringing technical, practical and real-world analysis and information into the rule-making process. The IMO’s traditional rule-making process must now resume and the industry’s input must now be taken into account in future diplomatic discourse’.

The revised MARPOL Annex VI - incorporating the IMO Net-Zero Framework is expected to be formally adopted at an Extraordinary Session of MEPC (MEPC/ES.2) in October 2025. Once adopted, the measures should enter into force 16 months later under the “tacit acceptance” procedure.

About INTERTANKO

INTERTANKO, the International Association of Independent Tanker Owners, has been the voice of independent tanker owners since 1970, ensuring that the liquid energy that keeps the world turning is shipped safely, responsibly and competitively. As of January 2025, the organisation has 178 Members, whose combined fleet comprises over 3,800 tankers totalling over 355 million dwt. INTERTANKO’s Associate Membership stands at some 220 companies and organisations related to the tanker industry. www.intertanko.com   

 

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INTERTANKO:
Jon Chaplin, External Relations
Mobile: +44 (0) 7701 394074
Email: jon.chaplin@intertanko.com

Or

Phil Blanshard, Communications Manager
Mobile: +44 (0) 7713 068868
Email: phillip.blanshard@intertanko.com      

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