On a Thursday afternoon in early October, a procurement manager at an industrial components maker near Lyon is closing next year's freight budget. The ocean leg from Asia carries a base rate, a fuel surcharge and an emissions line linked to European carbon rules. Her finance director has one question: will a global version of that line arrive, and when?
The answer now sits with the International Maritime Organization. In December, governments return to London to decide whether to adopt the IMO Net Zero Framework, the first global price on greenhouse gas emissions for an entire industry. For anyone who buys freight across several modes, it is the next chapter after CountEmissionsEU.
Why a shipping vote matters to freight buyers
Maritime transport moves most of the world's traded goods and accounts for roughly 3 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Until now, the carbon cost of a sea leg has depended largely on where the ship sails. Inside Europe, it is already priced. On most other lanes, it is invisible.
A global framework would change that, attaching a cost to emissions on international voyages everywhere, not only on routes that touch a European port. For a logistics director, the consequence is practical: carbon stops being an entry in a sustainability report and becomes a line on the freight invoice.
Once one mode carries a visible carbon cost, buyers start comparing the full picture across sea, road and air. That comparison is exactly what the harmonised European methodology for transport emissions now makes possible, because every quote can carry an emissions figure calculated the same way.
What the IMO is actually voting on
The framework was approved in principle in April 2025 and was due for formal adoption that October. Instead, under strong pressure from the United States and several oil producing states, member states voted narrowly to adjourn the extraordinary session for twelve months while work on consensus continued.
The text has two parts. A global fuel standard would require ships of 5,000 gross tonnes and above to cut the greenhouse gas intensity of their fuel, measured over its full lifecycle, year by year. A pricing mechanism would then charge ships that miss their targets. For the 2028 to 2030 period, remedial units are set at 100 dollars per tonne of CO2 equivalent for the stricter tier and 380 dollars for the base tier, paid into a new IMO Net Zero Fund. Ships running on zero or near zero emission fuels could earn rewards.
The timetable is now set. The Marine Environment Protection Committee meets from 30 November to 3 December, and the adjourned session resumes on 4 December 2026 to decide adoption. Talks in London in early September left the framework intact as the basis for negotiation, but the carbon price remains its most contested element. If adopted, the amendments enter into force 16 months later, so the rules could not apply before 2028.
Europe is not waiting. Under the EU Emissions Trading System, shipping companies surrender allowances for 70 percent of their 2025 emissions this year and for 100 percent from 2027. Brussels has also instructed member states to oppose any attempt to remove the framework. Whatever happens in December, European freight buyers already pay a carbon price at sea.
How multimodal buyers and networks are preparing
For shippers who combine sea, road and air, a priced carbon leg changes how freight decisions are compared. A cheaper ocean slot on an older vessel may no longer be the cheapest option once emissions are costed. Transit time, reliability and carbon start to sit in the same tender.
Three questions are worth putting to every provider now. Can you give an emissions figure per shipment, calculated with a recognised standard such as EN ISO 14083? How will carbon costs appear on invoices, as a separate surcharge or inside the rate? And how does the plan change when the ocean leg slips and an urgent road or air movement has to protect the delivery date?
That last question is where on demand networks matter. Flash does not set the price of a sea leg, but it manages what happens around it: the road movement from port to plant, the air option when a delay threatens a production window, and the live visibility from our freight control tower to decide while there is still time. With belly space already tight, as we set out in Q4 air freight capacity, that decision is better planned than improvised.
Planning modes deliberately also protects the emissions figure. A last minute emergency movement usually carries a higher carbon cost than one built into the plan. For customers in the automotive, aerospace and healthcare industries, Flash combines dedicated road and air solutions through 43 agencies in 23 countries, so the urgent leg is chosen on cost, time and carbon together.
What comes after 4 December
If the framework is adopted, the first reporting period begins in 2028 and shipping lines will start pricing compliance into contracts well before then. If it stalls again, regional rules will keep spreading, led by Europe, and carbon compliance will become more fragmented rather than less.
Either way, the direction is set. Carbon is becoming a priced input across every mode, and the buyers in the strongest position will be those who already see emissions per shipment next to cost and transit time. If you want to review how your critical lanes would hold up, talk to the Flash team.
Frequently asked questions
What is the IMO Net Zero Framework?
The IMO Net Zero Framework is a set of proposed amendments to MARPOL Annex VI that would combine a global fuel standard for ships with a global greenhouse gas emissions pricing mechanism. It was approved in principle in April 2025 and is designed to bring international shipping to net zero emissions by or around 2050.
When will the IMO vote on the Net Zero Framework?
The adjourned extraordinary session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee is scheduled to resume on 4 December 2026, immediately after MEPC 85, which sits from 30 November to 3 December 2026. If adopted, the amendments enter into force 16 months later.
How much would the shipping carbon price cost?
Ships that miss their fuel intensity targets would buy remedial units from the IMO Net Zero Fund. For the 2028 to 2030 period, the price is set at 100 dollars per tonne of CO2 equivalent for the stricter tier and 380 dollars for the base tier.
Does the IMO framework apply to road and air freight?
No. It applies to ships of 5,000 gross tonnes and above on international voyages. Road and air transport fall under separate regimes, but buyers comparing modes will increasingly weigh carbon costs across all of them in the same decision.
How does the IMO framework relate to the EU ETS for shipping?
The EU Emissions Trading System already prices shipping emissions on voyages linked to European ports, with companies surrendering allowances for 70 percent of their 2025 emissions in 2026 and 100 percent from 2027. A global IMO framework would extend carbon pricing to international shipping worldwide.
How should freight buyers prepare?
Ask every provider for emissions figures per shipment calculated under a recognised standard such as EN ISO 14083, clarify how carbon costs will appear on invoices, and plan how urgent road or air legs will protect delivery dates when an ocean leg is delayed.