Shipping for the green transition: IMO tightens its grip, US and classification societies react

The navigation is astatine the halfway of a fierce planetary brawl. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is moving guardant with its caller Net-Zero Framework (NZF), which aspires to marque it legally binding to decarbonize the manufacture by 2050. The proposal, which volition beryllium enactment to a ballot successful October, includes limits connected substance intensity, a c pricing mechanism, and incentives for compliance – a bundle unprecedented for a planetary industry.

But the reactions are fierce. The creation was kicked disconnected by Donald Trump, who warned that his medication would not hesitate to instrumentality enactment against countries that enactment the regulation, opening a beforehand of geopolitical confrontation. Norwegian classification nine DNV followed, criticising the IMO for “institutional romanticism” and indifference to marketplace realities. A fewer days later, the American ABS sided with its positions, and the contention dominated the London International Shipping Week.

Based connected the GHG 2023 strategy, the IMO aims to trim c strength by 40% by 2030, 70% by 2040, and execute zero emissions by 2050, compared to 2008 levels. The NZF, adopted successful a archetypal signifier past April (MEPC 83), is expected to beryllium adopted successful October and implemented from 2028, covering ships implicit 5,000 GT.