BELGIUM: Methanol Institute Statement in support of IMO’s adoption of Net-Zero Framework

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, September 30, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- In a couple of weeks, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) faces a defining moment for the future of the global shipping industry. Its Member States will decide whether to adopt the Net-Zero Framework (NZF), a package of regulatory measures that gives the industry a clear path to decarbonize shipping.

The Methanol Institute (MI) regards the NZF

as vital to achieving the IMO’s climate objectives and fully supports its adoption. In its 2023 Revised Greenhouse Gas Strategy IMO set targets for reducing shipping’s GHG emissions, and in April Member States approved draft regulation that seeks to ensure they are achieved. Together, these measures provide the basis to turn ambition into concrete action.

The NZF regulation and its supporting guidelines can give shipping companies as well as fuel producers and suppliers the confidence and clarity to mobilize investment and scale alternative fuels such as methanol worldwide. The framework includes a series of progressively stricter GHG fuel intensity standards, a GHG emissions pricing mechanism and a means to incentivize the use of zero and near-zero fuels.

Methanol producers are ready to deliver. Today, there is already enough methanol available to fuel the ships in operation. More than 250 projects for low-carbon, bio-, and e-methanol are under development worldwide, with significant new volumes expected to come online by 2027–2028. The Methanol Institute estimates that between 7 and 14 million tonnes of renewable and low-carbon methanol could be available globally by 2030. This demonstrates that the supply chain is moving quickly to scale and that the fuels to enable the transition will be available when they’re needed.

Adopting the framework would mark the most significant milestone yet in shipping’s decarbonization journey. It would send a strong signal for investment and support millions of jobs in clean energy sectors. Failing to adopt the NZF in October will slow progress, create uncertainty around the availability of alternative fuels, and leave the industry with a patchwork of national and regional rules that will be costlier, more burdensome and less effective.

The Methanol Institute welcomed the April agreement as a breakthrough. With the adoption of the Net Zero Framework MI believes IMO’s Member States can set the global shipping industry on a fair and effective course to achieve net zero by 2050.