Brett D. Schaefer
The UN’s net-zero push is coming to a head with the Trump administration efforts to revamp US shipping.
A fight is brewing ahead of the upcoming meeting of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) over new rules to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the shipping industry. Formal approval at the October 14-17 meeting was assumed until the United States announced its opposition to the regulations in August and called on other governments to reject the proposal or face retaliation.
The IMO is an unlikely place for this confrontation. As a United Nations specialized agency focusing on setting universal standards for maritime safety and security, the IMO is rarely controversial. In fact, the IMO is one of only a handful of UN organizations identified in the Trump administration’s fiscal year 2026 budget request as deserving of US funding. Specifically, it was highlighted for its standards setting, efforts to reduce pollution and prevent maritime disasters, and enhancing US security by helping “secure shipping lanes against terrorism and related threats.”
Nonetheless, the IMO finds itself in the crosshairs of the Trump administration.
The dispute centers on draft amendments to the existing International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), which the United States ratified in 1980 to address pollution of the marine environment by ships. The new rules, if approved in October, would be added to Annex VI of MARPOL and would apply to all parties to the agreement and annex 16 months after adoption through a process called “tacit acceptance.” The United States is a party to both MARPOL and Annex VI of the convention.
These regulations seek to implement the IMO “Net-Zero Framework” through mandatory fuel standards for ships over 5,000 gross tonnage and financial penalties for those failing to comply. Military and domestic shipping vessels are exempted. Overall, however, covered ships account for about 85 percent of global emissions from the shipping industry.
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