The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has decided to adjourn the extraordinary session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), held from 14–17 October 2025, which had been convened to consider adopting draft amendments to MARPOL Annex VI — including the much-debated IMO Net-Zero Framework.
The session will reconvene in 12 months, allowing Member States additional time to work toward consensus on the framework’s provisions. In the meantime, the Intersessional Working Group on the Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Ships will proceed as planned from 20–24 October 2025, focusing on technical guidelines for implementing the Net-Zero Framework.
Originally approved in principle at MEPC 83 in April 2025, the IMO Net-Zero Framework represents a major step toward global maritime decarbonization. As a new Chapter 5 of the revised MARPOL Annex VI, it sets out international regulations to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from ships, in line with the IMO’s 2023 GHG Strategy.
The framework centers on two pivotal measures — a global fuel standard and a GHG emissions pricing mechanism — both designed to accelerate the shipping industry’s transition toward net-zero emissions while maintaining a level global playing field.
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