MEPC 84 is scheduled to take place end of next month. File Image / Pixabay

A group of Pacific Island states has urged the IMO to tighten its Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII), warning that delays to the proposed Net-Zero Framework (NZF) are leaving a gap in shipping’s decarbonisation efforts. 

Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu pointed to the one-year delay in adopting the IMO’s NZF as a key concern for near-term emissions progress, they said in a proposal to the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee on March 3. 

“The one-year adjournment places us dangerously close to missing the timelines agreed in the 2023 IMO Strategy,” the co-sponsors said.

Keep Compromised NZF Unchanged

The group described the agreed NZF as a “fragile compromise” that, while not aligned with a 1.5°C pathway as per the Paris agreement, remains the only politically viable option to move decarbonisation forward in the near term.

They also cautioned against reopening the framework for major changes, warning that doing so could collapse the delicate balance reached between member states and derail progress entirely.

CII is the IMO’s short-term measure that rates ships annually based on how much CO2 they emit per unit of transport work, grading vessels from A to E and requiring corrective action for poorer performers.

The co-sponsors argued that current CII rules are not strong enough to drive meaningful efficiency gains, and warned that emissions could rise while the sector waits for clarity on mid-term measures under the net-zero framework.

For the group, tightening CII is one of the few tools available to maintain momentum this decade, particularly with a 2030 target of around a 30% cut in emissions compared to 2008 levels.

“Whilst politics paused, the climate crisis did not,” they said.

The submission comes ahead of the 84th session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 84), scheduled to take place from April 27 to May 1.