LONDON: Efforts to finalize a historic global agreement to cut emissions from the shipping industry have collapsed after the United States and Saudi Arabia moved to halt the negotiations.
Delegates from over 100 nations had convened in London to endorse a pact initially reached in April, which aimed to make shipping the first international sector with binding global targets to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
However, strong opposition from Washington derailed the process. The US President Donald Trump had previously dismissed the plan as a “green scam,” while officials from his administration reportedly warned other nations of possible trade tariffs if they supported the deal.
Following the breakdown, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio hailed the result as a “major victory” for President Trump’s agenda.
Faced with growing tensions, International Maritime Organization (IMO) Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez urged member states to avoid such disruptions in future climate negotiations.
In a surprising last-minute move, Saudi Arabia introduced a motion to postpone the talks for another year—effectively nullifying the agreement since its timelines would have to be redrawn. The motion narrowly passed by a slim margin.
Vanuatu’s Minister for Climate Change, Ralph Regenvanu, condemned the move, calling it “unacceptable given the urgency we face in addressing climate change.”
“We came to London ready to reluctantly endorse the IMO’s Net-Zero Framework. Though it falls short of scientific recommendations, it still represented a meaningful step forward,” he said.
The proposed agreement had gained cautious support from the shipping industry, which saw it as a path toward clear and consistent international regulations.
