‘TIS THE SEASON’…TO KICK THE CAN DOWN THE ROAD!


Another multinational initiative pushed back!


‘Tis the season’…to kick the can down the road as yet another multinational initiative is delayed by a year. My piece in last quarter’s ‘Ghost…’ was about, at the time of writing, the possible delay for a second year in EUDR or the European Union Deforestation Regulation. This still has not been fully settled but there are calls to push the enforcement back to December 2026 and the key date to note for this will be Monday the 15th of December 2025 when a resolution to the situation, will need to be made. However, this piece of legislation is not the subject of my piece today, rather it is another bit of ‘can kicking’ that took place on the 17th of October this year, when the International Maritime Organisation’s (‘IMO’), Marine Environment Protection Committee (‘MEPC’), unexpectedly chose to push back its Net- Zero Framework (‘NZF’) by a year.


The NZF would have progressively set tougher carbon intensity requirements for marine fuels between the years 2028 – 2035…and beyond! The U.S., along with the Russian Federation & the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had consistently pushed to block the NZF in recent months1


Well, there has been discussion about this leading to further regional fragmentation with some states and state groupings potentially taking unilateral measures1


. The EU already has its own EU ETS &


FuelEU Maritime regulations with EU ETS being fully phased in from 2026, covering 50% of emissions from voyages entering or leaving the EU & 100% for voyages within the EU plus FuelEU maritime penalties will increase every 5 years until 20501


. Neighbouring


Turkey is moving to issue its own maritime emissions tax, approving a law in the Turkish Parliament in July 20241


. In Africa, Djibouti & Gabon have progressed with a carbon pricing scheme to cover 50% of international voyage emissions under an organisation backed by the African Union called the Africa Sovereign Carbon Registry Foundation. Allegedly 13 other African states are considering joining, including Guinea & Morocco1


.


. The delay went


through with a narrow 57 – 49 margin in favour after sustained pressure against countries adopting the NZF from the U.S. including such measures as investigations into anti-competitive practices & blocking vessels from U.S. ports, visa restrictions, imposing commercial penalties, additional port fees & evaluating sanctions on officials2


. This October


vote is far away from the earlier vote in April which had approved the draft NZF with a large 63 – 16 majority. In that instance, the People’s Republic of China had voted in favour of the draft NZF but then voted against it in the October vote1


. So…what’s next after this delay…this ‘can’ being kicked down the road?


‘LOOKING AT THE POSITIVE SIDE THOUGH, NZF WASN’T REJECTED…’


20 | ADMISI - The Ghost In The Machine | Q4 Edition 2025


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