MONROVIA – Liberia has carried its fight over the rules for cleaning up global shipping from London to New York. At a high-level engagement with United Nations Member States, the government presented its own alternative to the International Maritime Organization’s Net-Zero Framework. Its message to the world was blunt: net zero must not become a new burden on developing countries. The stakes are unusually high for a country that runs the world’s largest ship registry. Liberia’s plan would drop the framework’s global carbon charge and its fund. Environmental groups and Pacific island states say that would weaken climate ambition. With a decisive IMO session due in November, the diplomatic contest is sharpening, as THE ANALYST reports.
The Republic of Liberia has renewed its call for a fair, practical, realistic and equitable approach to the decarbonization of international shipping. The government insists that the transition to net-zero emissions must not impose disproportionate economic burdens on developing countries.
Liberia made the call in New York on Wednesday, September 23, as it presented its proposed alternative approach to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Net-Zero Framework during a high-level engagement with UN Member States.
The presentation forms part of Liberia’s continuing engagement with the international maritime community on how best to meet the objectives of the 2023 IMO Strategy on Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Ships. The government’s stated aim is a transition that remains equitable and responsive to the circumstances of developing countries.
Backing Ambitious Climate Action
Liberia’s position recognizes the urgency of addressing climate change and fully supports the maritime sector’s responsibility to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.
As a major flag State and a climate-vulnerable developing country whose history and economy are deeply tied to the sea, Liberia maintains that there is no contradiction between ambitious climate action and the protection of developing-country economies.
The government wants a transition that is pragmatic, realistic, performance-based, affordable, scalable, equitable and legally coherent within the IMO’s mandate. It has therefore put a fundamental question to the maritime community.
How can the world achieve its climate ambitions while ensuring that developing countries, many of which depend heavily on shipping for essential commodities, do not bear disproportionate economic costs?
Protecting Trade, Food and Energy
International shipping remains critical to the movement of food, fuel, medicines, machinery, construction materials and other essential commodities.
Liberia cautions that significant increases in the cost of maritime transportation could reach well beyond the shipping sector, affecting food security, energy security, inflation, trade competitiveness and sustainable development.
For this reason, Liberia holds that the economic implications of maritime decarbonization must be weighed alongside environmental objectives.
The country has also stressed the importance of country-specific economic impact assessments. Developing countries, it notes, differ in their economic structures, trade profiles, technological capabilities, infrastructure, access to finance and levels of dependence on maritime transportation.
A comprehensive global assessment, in Liberia’s view, is not enough on its own. It should be complemented by assessments that capture the particular circumstances and vulnerabilities of individual developing countries.
A Practical and Equitable Transition
Liberia’s proposed approach seeks to advance the IMO’s climate objectives while reducing the economic disruption the transition could cause.
The proposal emphasizes commercially viable alternative fuels, operational and technological efficiencies, infrastructure development, capacity-building and other practical measures that can support a sustainable transition.
Liberia also advocates capacity-building and support mechanisms that are predictable, transparent, equitable and genuinely responsive to the needs of developing countries.
The government rejects any arrangement under which developing countries absorb significant economic and trade costs first, on the expectation that later support or redistribution will fully compensate them. Instead, it wants the transition designed from the outset to minimize disproportionate economic consequences.
Evidence Before Costly Measures
Liberia further stresses the importance of evidence-based policymaking before the IMO implements measures with potentially significant economic consequences.
Among the key considerations it lists are the technical credibility, legal coherence, administrative workability, affordability, availability and scalability of proposed measures and alternative fuels across different regions, ports and shipping routes.
The government says these considerations are essential to building a framework that commands broad confidence. Only such a framework, it argues, can be effectively implemented by all IMO Member States.
Multilateralism at the Heart
Liberia reaffirmed that it does not seek to weaken global climate ambition. Rather, it seeks a framework that allows climate action and sustainable development to advance together.
The government maintains that the IMO’s legitimacy and effectiveness depend on the meaningful participation and confidence of all its Member States: developed and developing, large and small, flag States and coastal States.
Liberia therefore continues to advocate a Net-Zero Framework that is ambitious in its environmental objectives while being fair, practical, affordable and equitable in its implementation.
“Net zero must not become a new burden on developing countries,” Liberia’s position emphasizes. The transition to a sustainable maritime future, it adds, should instead create opportunities for investment, innovation, technology transfer, infrastructure development and capacity-building while protecting trade, food security and sustainable development.
Liberia says it stands ready to keep working constructively with IMO Member States and other stakeholders toward a framework that reflects the shared responsibility to address climate change. Its stated goal is that no country is left behind in the transition.
Where the Debate Stands
Liberia’s proposal builds on a submission it co-sponsored with Argentina and Panama at the 84th session of the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) in April 2026.
It would tie fuel-intensity targets to the cost, availability and scalability of low-emission fuels. It would also replace the framework’s global carbon charge and Net-Zero Fund with surplus units that ships could trade, bank or borrow.
The approach has drawn backing from the Union of Greek Shipowners, and several states, including Oman, Kuwait, Jordan, Somalia, Yemen and Tunisia, supported it during the April talks.
Pacific island states, Norway, European governments and environmental groups such as the Clean Shipping Coalition oppose it. They argue that removing the fund would weaken incentives to invest in cleaner fuels and cut off support for vulnerable states.
The Net-Zero Framework itself has yet to be adopted. In October 2025, Member States voted to adjourn its adoption for a year after strong opposition led by the United States.
Further Progressive Moves
The IMO and its Member States are expected to continue deliberations on the Net-Zero Framework at the next MEPC session, scheduled for November 2026.
Liberia is expected to remain actively engaged in consultations before and during that session. Its stated objective is an outcome that is environmentally ambitious, economically responsible and equitable for all Member States.
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