International. The International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) net-zero framework for shipping, which failed to be adopted in October 2025, was back on track after the MEPC84 meeting in London that opened on 27 April 2026, Carbon Brief reported.
The framework, agreed in principle in April 2025, sets emissions-intensity targets rising to 30 to 43 per cent by 2035, with non-compliant ships paying for “remedial units” into an IMO net-zero fund. In October 2025, an adjournment proposed by Saudi Arabia and backed by 57 countries pushed adoption back a year after the US rejected the plan. At MEPC84, alternatives including one that removed carbon pricing failed to gain a majority, and the net-zero framework was the only option in the final outcome text, backed by more than half of nations.
Intersessional meetings were planned for September and November 2026, with adoption targeted at MEPC85 in December 2026. “We are back on track, but we have to rebuild trust,” IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said. Bangladesh, as a flag state and ship-recycling nation, will be affected by the eventual rules.
Source
- Carbon Brief: “Q&A: How countries got the global net-zero shipping deal back on track” (5 May 2026)
File photo: the International Maritime Organization headquarters in London. Photo: Celsoazevedo / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
This article is a summary prepared by Maritime News BD from the report(s) listed above; it was not independently reported by Maritime News BD.
