US blocks a global fee on shipping emissions as international meeting
ends without new regulations
[October 18, 2025] By
SIBI ARASU and JENNIFER McDERMOTT
With trade threats from President Donald Trump, the U.S. derailed the
world’s first global carbon fee on shipping as an international maritime
meeting adjourned Friday without adopting regulations.
Earlier this year, amid much fanfare, the world’s largest maritime
nations agreed on the regulations, which would impose a fee on carbon
pollution to clean up shipping. The next step of the process — adopting
the regulations — during the International Maritime Organization meeting
in London this week was widely expected to be a formality.
Instead, after much pressure from Trump, along with Saudi Arabia and a
handful of other countries, delegates decided to postpone the decision
by a year and adjourn. In the interim, nations will continue to
negotiate and work toward consensus.
The development underscored how the influence of Trump, who recently
called climate change a “con job,” extends globally to policies aimed at
combating climate change.
“Faced with pressure, too many governments chose political compromise
over climate justice, and in doing so, abandoned the countries bearing
the brunt of the climate crisis,” said Emma Fenton, senior director for
climate diplomacy at a U.K.-based climate change nonprofit, Opportunity
Green.
The Trump administration was quick to celebrate
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio hailed the development as “another
huge win” for Trump.
“Thanks to his leadership, the United States prevented a massive U.N.
tax hike on American consumers that would have funded progressive
climate pet projects," Rubio wrote on X. “Our country will continue to
lead the way and put America FIRST.”
Trump had urged countries to vote “No,” posting on his social media
platform Truth Social on Thursday that “the United States will not stand
for this global green new scam tax on shipping.” The U.S. had threatened
to retaliate with tariffs, visa restrictions and port levies if nations
supported it.
After vowing to fight any global tax on shipping emissions, Saudi Arabia
called for a vote to adjourn the meeting for a year. More than half the
countries agreed.
Arsenio Dominguez, secretary-general of the IMO, the United Nations
agency that regulates international shipping, said in a post-meeting
news conference that “geopolitics in the world right now makes it more
difficult for us to make progress in certain topics.”
Nations falter in their efforts to save the planet
The decision, or lack thereof, in London is similar to what happened
this summer with a major treaty to end growing plastic pollution around
the world. The negotiations fell apart, with the United States and Saudi
Arabia opposing any limit on plastic production.
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Tokyo Tower is visible amid tall buildings as a container ship
leaves a cargo terminal in Tokyo, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Hiro
Komae, File)
 The world’s biggest climate summit,
COP30, is in November in Belem, Brazil. Ralph Regenvanu, minister
for climate change for the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu, said
the road to Belem and beyond is now more difficult.
“The IMO’s failure to adopt the framework this week marks a failure
of this United Nations agency to act decisively on climate change,”
Regenvanu said. “But we know that we have international law on our
side and will continue to fight for our people and the planet.”
Shipping emissions grow
Large ships last about 25 years, so the industry would need to make
changes and investments now to slash its emissions. Most ships today
run on heavy fuel oil that releases carbon dioxide and other
pollutants as it’s burned. The International Chamber of Shipping,
which represents over 80% of the world’s merchant fleet, advocated
for the adoption of the regulations.
Thomas Kazakos, the chamber's secretary-general, said they are
disappointed because the industry needs clarity to be able to make
the investments needed to decarbonize the maritime sector.
Shipping emissions have grown over the past decade to about 3% of
the global total as trade has grown and vessels use immense amounts
of fossil fuels to transport cargo over long distances.
The regulations, or “Net-Zero Framework,” would set a marine fuel
standard that decreases, over time, the amount of greenhouse gas
emissions allowed from using shipping fuels. The regulations also
would establish a pricing system that would impose fees for every
ton of greenhouse gases emitted by ships above allowable limits, in
what is effectively the first global tax on greenhouse gas
emissions.
“The delay leaves the shipping sector drifting in uncertainty. But
this week has also shown that there is a clear desire to clean up
the shipping industry, even in the face of U.S. bullying,” said
Alison Shaw, IMO Manager at Transport & Environment, a
Brussels-based environmental nongovernmental organization.
The IMO set a target for the sector to reach net-zero greenhouse gas
emissions by about 2050, and has committed to ensuring that fuels
with zero or near-zero emissions are used more widely.
“What matters now is that countries rise up and come back to the IMO
with a louder and more confident yes vote that cannot be silenced,”
said Anaïs Rios, shipping policy officer for Seas At Risk. "The
planet and the future of shipping does not have time to waste.”
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