World’s first industry-wide climate mandate could be launched with shipping vote

• Shipping could become the first industry governed by a global treaty that sets enforceable decarbonization standards.
• In October, more than 100 nations will gather at a meeting of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in London to potentially adopt a “net-zero framework” for the industry.
• In 2023, the IMO, a United Nations body that regulates shipping, developed a nonbinding strategy to decarbonize “by or around” 2050; the new framework would make that vision concrete and binding. Critics from small island developing states and environmental groups say the framework falls short of fulfilling the original vision.
• Some oil-exporting countries opposed the deal, arguing that alternative fuels are costly and unproven.