After five days of intense negotiations at IMO headquarters in London, the 84th session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee closed on May 1 without a formal adoption of the Net Zero Framework — but with the framework very much alive. Nearly 100 delegations took the floor over the course of the week, and when the dust settled, 55 countries had spoken in support of the Net Zero Framework and its critical carbon pricing mechanism, while 51 favored proposals to substantially reopen or weaken it, including calls to remove the carbon price entirely. The narrow but meaningful majority in favor of the framework reversed, by a similar margin, the vote that had adjourned the measure last October — with five countries flipping back to support the NZF and ten additional nations that had previously abstained now clearly backing it.

The week’s most consequential outcome was procedural but significant: the committee agreed to convene two intersessional working group meetings — in September and November — ahead of MEPC 85, scheduled for November 30 to December 3, with a resumed extraordinary session penciled in for December 4. That December session is now the next formal opportunity for adoption of the framework, which has been approved in principle since April 2025 but has twice failed to clear the political hurdles required for binding international law. Closing the session, IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez was measured but resolute, telling delegates: “We are back on track, but we have to rebuild trust. I encourage you to maintain this momentum through your intersessional work and to prepare submissions that can bring the membership together.”

UCL researchers called the outcome a meaningful reversal, noting that the failure of NZF opponents to capitalize on the moment was critical for shipping’s decarbonization future. International Chamber of Shipping Secretary General Thomas Kazakos welcomed the constructive tone while acknowledging that many member states remain unable to support adoption without further adjustments to the framework. The shipping industry is widely regarded as having already delivered substantial greenhouse gas emissions reductions and is pressing governments to move toward a fit-for-purpose global framework as quickly as possible — before the window for an orderly energy transition begins to narrow.