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Sailing towards net zero: shipping advised to pool carbon-neutral fuel demand
1/10/2025
8 min read
Feature
October 2025 is the deadline for adoption of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Net-Zero Framework (NZF), aimed to ensure that international shipping can meet carbon neutral greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. A timely report, just released by Swiss marine technology firm Accelleron, hopes to galvanise action and asks: ‘What’s stopping shipping’s carbon neutral fuel transition?’ New Energy World Features Editor Brian Davis reports.
The NZF is the IMO’s regulatory response to the 2023 IMO GHG strategy. If adopted, this new legally binding framework will include requirements on GHG fuel intensity ‘which will be the first of its kind to cover a global industry sector’, claims DNV. The new regulations were approved by the Marine Environment Protection Committee 83 in April 2025 and are expected to take effect from 2028, applying to ships over 5,000 Gt engaged in international trade.
Environmental performance will be measured as ‘well-to-wake’ GHG emissions per energy unit used. However, shipping owners and operators are concerned that the NZF represents a new regulatory era for the sector in which ships will be required to adopt fuels that are typically three to four times more expensive than conventional fossil fuels (heavy diesel).
DNV suggests that given the long lifespan of ships, ‘shipowners should prepare now for the new net zero GHG emission regulations to ensure cost-effective compliance’.