IMO’s shipping carbon levy vote returns next month, one year on

A year after member states failed to adopt the International Maritime Organization’s Net-Zero Framework, the vote is due to return before the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) in October 2026.

If adopted, it would introduce the first global price on shipping’s greenhouse gas emissions.

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What was agreed, and what stalled

The Framework comprises a Global Fuel Standard to reduce the greenhouse gas intensity of marine fuels, alongside a carbon pricing and reward mechanism.

It was approved in principle at MEPC 83 in April 2025, after roughly a decade of negotiation. Formal adoption was expected at an extraordinary session in October 2025.

That session ended instead in a vote to adjourn for 12 months, called by Saudi Arabia and passed 57 votes to 49, with 21 abstentions and eight delegations absent.

Major oil-exporting states, including Russia, China and the United States, backed the delay, alongside flag states Panama and Liberia. The EU and UK were among those voting to proceed.

The adjournment followed sustained opposition from the Trump administration, which had submitted an impact assessment to the MEPC arguing the pricing mechanism would impose a disproportionate economic burden on the industry.

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The picture one year on

Since then, the picture has shifted, though not decisively. MEPC 84 was held in London from 27 April to 1 May 2026.

Analysis by University College London’s Shipping and Oceans Research group found that a majority of member states had returned to backing the Framework broadly as it stood when approved in 2025.

That reversed the narrow majority that voted to delay it the previous October. Alternative proposals put forward at the session failed to gather significant support.

The Clean Shipping Coalition, an environmental group, said the meeting closed with majority member state backing for the Framework, despite continued opposition from the United States, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Panama and Liberia.

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Who is still opposed

The United States remained the most vocal opponent heading into MEPC 84. Its IMO delegation lead told a pre-meeting briefing there was a clear and sizable bloc opposed, with no prospect of consensus.

Oil-producing states including Saudi Arabia, Russia, Algeria, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait and the UAE have separately argued that any framework must be consensus-based and reflect concerns they say the current draft does not address.

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Why October is uncertain

Whether the shift in sentiment translates into the two-thirds majority required for formal adoption remains uncertain.

An intersessional working group has continued technical work on implementation guidelines between the April and October sessions, aimed at narrowing outstanding disagreements before member states vote.

What is at stake for fuel and compliance planning

For fuel suppliers and compliance testing providers, the practical stakes of the vote centre on certainty rather than direction of travel.

Adoption in October would set an implementation and enforcement timetable running alongside the EU’s existing Emissions Trading System coverage of shipping and the FuelEU Maritime Regulation.

Both of those already factor IMO-level adoption into their own frameworks. A further deferral would extend the period in which fuel pricing and compliance testing investment decisions must be made without a confirmed global baseline.