CARICOM Countries Abstain or Vote In Favor of a Deferral to Delay in NZF Initiative

LONDON, UK – The United States and Saudi Arabia Friday were successful in ending talks aimed at reaching an agreement that would have seen shipping become the world’s first industry to adopt internationally mandated targets to reduce shipping emissions.

Some key countries that had initially voted to support the deal in April switched sides and agreed to delay proceedings. This included The Bahamas, and Antigua and Barbuda as well as Haiti and Suriname that all abstained while Trinidad and Tobago, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Jamaica and Belize voted for the deferral.

Earlier this week Antigua and Barbuda and the Bahamas had publicly indicated that they were not in favor of the so called Net-Zero Shipping Framework (NZF) aimed at reducing emissions in the maritime sector

They said they were not in support of the measure being pushed by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) that was approved in April this year.

Prime Minister Gaston Browne said Antigua and Barbuda favors a deferral in the adoption of the proposal as it will likely affect cost of living for the people of this country, while the Bahamas Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell  said his country had some time ago  written to  the IMO to ask for the vote to be postponed, and if the vote is not postponed, we expect to  abstain.

The United States had publicly opposed the measure and had warned countries of reprisals if they supported the NZF.

“The attempts from the US and others to delay the adoption of the IMO’s Net-Zero Framework are an affront to multilateralism and fly in the face of the the courage and ambition shown by member states when it was agreed in April. Thankfully this is not a foregone conclusion and countries can continue to demonstrate the spirit of solidarity that they showed in April when voting to adopt the framework,” said Emma Fenton, senior director for climate diplomacy at a UK-based climate change nonprofit, Opportunity Green.

More than 100 countries had gathered in London to approve a deal and despite an appeal by the IMO Secretary General Arsenio Domingue for representatives not to be intimidated by Washington, the meeting ended with a vote.

Saudi Arabia tabled a motion to adjourn the talks for a year with the IMO indicating that this would mean that the agreement was not approved, as key timelines for the treaty would have to be revised.

The motion passed by just a handful of votes.

The NZF sought to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from international shipping to align with the 2050 net-zero target. Key components include a Global Fuel Standard (GFS) setting annual GHG intensity reduction targets, a two-tier carbon price mechanism, and a credit trading system funded by penalties to reward zero and near-zero emission fuels and support a just transition.

The NZF presented a new regulatory era in which ships will be required to gradually adopt fuels that are typically three to four times more expensive compared with conventional fossil fuels. Given the long lifespan of ships, shipowners should prepare now for the new net-zero GHG emission regulations to ensure cost-effective compliance, both at the ship and the fleet level.

The Framework would have apply to all oceangoing ships over 5,000 gross tonnage (GT). These ships are responsible for over 85 per cent of global shipping emissions and are already covered by reporting requirements for fuel data collection. Ships under 5,000 GT are currently not covered.