The Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) appealed to the European Commission to soften its position on a global agreement on green shipping, urging compromise between the parties.
Talks on the agreement aimed at reaching zero emissions in the shipping industry, including penalties for the most polluting fuels, are set to begin in April. In this context, Panamanian official and secretary-general of the London-based maritime regulator Arsenio Dominguez visited the European Commission to meet with MEPs from the transport and environment committees, as well as senior officials responsible for maritime and climate policy.
“These discussions included considering efforts to find consensus on the pathway to the decarbonisation of international shipping,” an IMO spokesperson said.
Initially, member states supported a draft agreement with relatively strict environmental standards; however, Greece and Cyprus’ refusal to support it weakened the Union’s position and contributed to the agreement’s failure. In addition, negotiations on a global agreement collapsed last October after the US threatened sanctions against countries supporting the previously agreed position.
Persistent disagreements within the EU over how far to go in the negotiations remain at a worrying level. EU climate officials, among the last defenders of the Green Deal approach amid pressure from industry, opposed reopening the debate, according to two officials familiar with the situation. Their reluctance stems from the fact that LNG is considered a much dirtier fuel than biofuel.
Greece, whose powerful shipping sector accounts for about 8% of GDP, wants to reopen negotiations to give liquefied natural gas more favourable conditions, a position shared by the US and other oil-producing states. On the other hand, Denmark, home to maritime giant Maersk, is backing the existing agreement, concluded at the height of the EU’s Green Deal promotion, which favours biofuels over LNG. China reportedly supports this approach in principle. France, once an ally of Denmark, is now reconsidering its position.
In 2024, the EU included maritime emissions in its landmark CO₂ pricing scheme, despite strong opposition from the shipping sector. If the negotiations are successful, a soft global agreement at the IMO could be used to justify adjustments to the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), mirroring similar efforts by the aviation industry to avoid carbon pricing.
Faced with the prospect of a weakened agreement, climate industry representatives may be tempted to stick to the EU’s existing position at the IMO, which would effectively freeze the issue.
