As governments prepare to resume negotiations at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in September, new legal proposals have been circulated that could weaken the Net-Zero Framework (NZF), jeopardising the commitment made in 2023 by governments to price emissions from international shipping. The proposed amendments would weaken incentives to invest in zero-emission fuels and halt millions of dollars from entering the Net-Zero Fund, which was intended to support developing countries through a just and equitable maritime transition away from fossil fuels.

The NZF represents a hard-fought compromise between climate ambition and political feasibility. Reopening the approved text now risks unravelling the delicate balance that made consensus possible in April last year.

However, the proposal submitted by Liberia would replace mandatory remedial payments with greater reliance on a market-based Surplus Unit trading system. This would undermine the emissions reductions benefits of the framework, at the same time, stripping away a dedicated source of finance to help developing countries build capacity, strengthen resilience and participate in the maritime transition.

Without a predictable economic incentive, there is a significant risk that investment will continue to favour high-emitting fuels such as fossil-based liquefied natural gas (LNG) and biofuels, rather than the zero-emission fuels needed to achieve the IMO’s 2023 GHG Strategy, keep 1.5°C within reach under the Paris Agreement, and support states in meeting their international legal obligations on climate change.

Retaining the NZF in its current form would provide the regulatory certainty needed to unlock investment, scale-up zero-emission fuels, and establish a solid foundation on which ambition can be strengthened. By contrast, reopening its core architecture would prolong uncertainty, weaken investor confidence and risk delaying the shipping sector’s transition.

In a recent briefing to IMO Member States, climate NGO Opportunity Green urges states to adopt the NZF. It outlines that, while the framework is not the finish line of shipping decarbonisation – deeper emission cuts and more measures for climate justice will still be needed – it does provide a strong foundation on which further ambition can be built. Opportunity Green adds that all states should support theFramework’s adoption as it was approved in April 2025, without reopening its core architecture, to maintain momentum towards decarbonising international shipping and preserve an important new source of climate finance for developing countries.

Sapphire Ross, Policy Officer at Opportunity Green says:

“The Net-Zero Framework is a landmark multilateral achievement after years of complex negotiations. It is also an important first step towards embedding the polluter pays principle in international shipping. It ensures that those responsible for emissions help finance the transition in developing countries that have contributed the least to the climate crisis, yet face its most severe impacts. Governments should protect this hard-fought agreement and resist attempts to weaken the core economic elements that underpin its ef fectiveness.”

Em Fenton, Senior Director at Opportunity Green says:

“The Net-Zero Framework is the only credible proposal on the table. It represents a hard-fought multilateral agreement and fully delivers on the IMO’ s 2023 strategy . Any suggestion of adopting a weakened proposal is tantamount to abandoning climate vulnerable countries and failing states’ duty to co-operate as the very essence of multilateralism. W e expect governments to act with the same integrity and courage they showed when the framework text was first agreed, and to continue pushing for its adoption later this year .”

The impacts of proposed legal amendments to IMO’s MARPOL Annex VI on international shipping’s climate transition