"The world’s maritime nations preserved a plan to adopt the first global carbon fee on shipping, as they agreed to keep working on it in the fall and adjourned their meeting Friday.
However, they also agreed to continue discussing alternative proposals and entertain new ones, which could change the plan substantially.
Nations met this week at the International Maritime Organization headquarters in London in preparation for potentially voting in the late fall on new, global regulations to clean up shipping, or the “Net-zero Framework.” Instead of finishing the discussions, the delegates scheduled more meetings for the fall to keep working ahead of a vote, keeping the framework as a foundation for their negotiations.
A number of countries submitted alternative proposals and suggested changes, and said those should still be on the table, for inclusive, constructive negotiations. The meeting chairman, Harry Conway of Liberia, assured the group on Friday that these options could still be considered at the forthcoming meetings, and new documents could still be submitted. The document that outlines the work for these meetings was modified to make that explicit."
Jennifer McDermott and Sibi Arasu report for the Associated Press May 1, 2026.
