Insight Focus
The IMO has delayed the Net-Zero Framework. The Red Sea crisis caused a 14% rise in 2024 shipping emissions as vessels rerouted around Africa. Carbon performance is beginning to improve, with carriers investing in LNG-powered vessels to reduce emissions and advance sustainability.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has announced that members have agreed to adjourn the extraordinary session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), originally convened for 14-17 October 2025, to consider the adoption of draft amendments to MARPOL Annex VI, including the IMO Net-Zero Framework.
According to the latest IMO statement, the session will reconvene in 12 months’ time. In the interim, Member States will continue working toward building consensus on the proposed Net-Zero Framework.
Approved during MEPC 83 in April 2025, the IMO Net-Zero Framework is set to form a new Chapter 5 of the Draft Revised Annex VI of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL). The framework establishes a comprehensive regulatory package designed to align the shipping industry with the IMO’s 2023 Strategy on the Reduction of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions from Ships.
It consists of two core elements:
- a global fuel standard
- a global GHG emissions pricing mechanism
Progress Slows as Red Sea Crisis Drives Emissions Up
While discussions on the IMO Net-Zero Framework are set to resume next year, major ocean carriers have already made significant strides toward decarbonisation. However, geopolitical instability in the Red Sea has derailed some of this progress.
Global container shipping emissions rose by 14% in 2024, reaching 240.6 million tonnes of CO₂ and surpassing the previous record of 218.5 million tonnes in 2021.
Source: Xeneta
According to Emily Stausbøll, Senior Analyst at Xeneta, this spike should not be viewed as a failure of the shipping industry. Instead, it reflects the operational impact of vessels rerouting around the Cape of Good Hope after the escalation of conflict in the Red Sea in December 2023.
“A new record high is the inevitable outcome of these diversions — both due to increased transport work and the surge in demand for laden containers in 2024, as shippers frontloaded imports in response to the Red Sea crisis,” Stausbøll explained.
Indeed, overall transport work — measured as tonnes of cargo multiplied by nautical miles sailed — rose by 18% in 2024.
Emissions Trend Turns Positive as Index Falls Below 100
Despite the ongoing crisis, recent data from Xeneta and Marine Benchmark suggest that ocean container shipping’s carbon performance is beginning to improve. The Carbon Emissions Index (CEI), which tracks emissions across Xeneta’s 13 major global trades, fell below 100 points for the first time in 12 months, registering 97.4 in Q2 2025.
This represents a 4.5% decline from Q1 2025 and a 7% drop from Q4 2024, when the index peaked at a record 104.8.
Source: Xeneta
The Q2 2025 score marks two consecutive quarters of improvement, signalling a positive trend in emissions reduction. Although the index remains slightly above the 96 points recorded in Q2 2024, it is only 1.5% higher than the Q2 2023 level (95.9) — a period before the Red Sea conflict significantly disrupted trade routes.
This narrow gap, despite continued diversions around the Cape of Good Hope, indicates that a resolution to the conflict could yield a substantial decline in global maritime emissions, potentially pushing performance well below 2023 levels.
LNG-Powered Fleet Expansion Gains Momentum
One of the most significant developments in the pursuit of more environmentally friendly shipping is the increasing deployment of greener vessels across global trade routes. Major and niche ocean carriers alike are continually expanding and upgrading their dual-fuel LNG container-ship fleets to reduce emissions and advance sustainable maritime transport.
In a notable recent move, CMA CGM has signed a Letter of Intent for the construction of six new 1,700 TEU dual-fuel LNG-powered containerships to be built in India. With this agreement, the French shipping group becomes the first major international container carrier to commission LNG-powered vessels from Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL).
“The newbuilds demonstrate CMA CGM’s commitment to more sustainable shipping, as they can run on LNG and are ready for low-carbon fuels, significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions, aligning with the Group’s ambition to be Net Zero Carbon by 2050,” the Marseille-based carrier said in a statement.
