IMO backs draft framework linking cleaner ship fuels with emissions pricing

The International Maritime organisation’s Marine Environment Protection Committee has approved a draft framework intended to push international shipping towards net-zero emissions. The decision was taken during the committee’s 83rd session, held from 7 to 11 April 2025. This report is independently written from the factual information published by the IMO in the cited source, rather than reproduced from its wording.

The draft would add a new Chapter 5 to MARPOL Annex VI, the part of the convention concerned with preventing air pollution from ships. Its central design is a combination of two measures. One would set a global standard for the greenhouse-gas intensity of marine fuels. The other would introduce an economic mechanism for emissions above prescribed thresholds.

A framework aimed at the larger fleet

The proposed rules would apply to ocean-going ships of more than 5,000 gross tonnage. According to the IMO’s factual account, ships in that category represent 85 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions from international shipping. The threshold therefore places the focus on a substantial part of the sector’s reported emissions, rather than on every vessel regardless of size.

The proposed arrangement also includes an IMO Net-Zero Fund. The fund would receive contributions generated through the pricing mechanism and would support several related aims. These include the development of low-emission shipping, innovation, capacity building and assistance for vulnerable states. The structure described by the IMO links the cost of higher emissions with investment in the transition and with support for countries that may face particular pressures.

The committee’s approval was not the final adoption of the rules. Formal adoption was scheduled for October 2025, with entry into force expected in 2027. Those stages matter because the committee’s draft is a proposal within the IMO process, not a statement that the new requirements were already in operation.

What the proposal would change

In practical terms, the draft framework would give ship operators two connected questions to manage. They would need to consider the fuel intensity of the energy used by qualifying ships, while also accounting for the financial consequences of emissions above the prescribed levels. The packet does not specify the final rates, technical formulas or individual compliance outcomes, so this article does not add them.

The proposal’s significance lies in its attempt to combine a technical requirement with a price signal. A fuel standard would establish the direction of travel for ship energy. The economic mechanism would add a financial incentive to remain below the relevant emissions thresholds. The fund would then direct collected contributions towards decarbonisation work and support.

The IMO’s account presents the draft as a global measure for a global industry. Its proposed scope covers international ocean-going ships above the stated tonnage level, while its supporting fund is designed to address innovation and capacity as well as emissions. The next decisive point identified in the source was the formal adoption planned for October 2025. Until then, the framework remained a draft approved by the committee.

For ports, owners and cargo interests, the proposal signalled that fuel choices and emissions performance could become increasingly connected to international rules and costs. The exact obligations would depend on the adopted text. The factual record supplied for this draft supports only the committee decision, the proposed structure, the vessel threshold, the stated emissions share, the fund’s purposes and the planned timetable.

Role: Author, The Maritime Gazette

Reporting note This Maritime Gazette report is independently written from cited factual information published by International Maritime organisation (IMO).

Reported by Luke Smout.