This week, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) was supposed to sign a landmark, legally binding deal aimed at decarbonising the global shipping industry. The vote on this crucial deal has been postponed for a year, following significant pressure from the United States and several oil-producing countries.

The agreement that was endorsed in April 2025 promised to introduce the world’s first global carbon pricing mechanism for international shipping and set binding greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets for vessels exceeding 5,000 tons.

However, the delay now puts the shipping industry’s decarbonisation pathway in jeopardy at a time when urgent action is needed to meet global climate targets.

“It is not acceptable that one party blocks the establishment of a level playing field which was already agreed. The climate crisis demands immediate action, not further postponements”, commented Isabelle Barthès, Deputy Secretary General of industriAll Europe. 

This pause represents a serious setback for the EU. With growing geopolitical tensions undermining multilateral climate governance, industriAll Europe calls on the EU to show leadership in strengthening its own maritime and industrial decarbonisation strategies. Europe must ensure that ambitious climate goals go hand in hand with industrial strength, good quality jobs and social policies. The current delay should not be an excuse for inaction but a wake-up call for the EU to accelerate investments in green shipbuilding, clean fuels, and reskilling of workers.

Isabelle Barthès added: “For workers across Europe’s shipyards and marine value chains, this delay means postponed investments and continued uncertainty. Workers cannot become collateral damage for global inaction. The EU must therefore move ahead and invest in green industrial jobs”.

At the same time, the IMO’s postponement exposes deeper structural tensions in global order. The US’s recent approach to climate and trade policy is increasingly undermining fair competition and creating uncertainty for industries and workers on both sides of the Atlantic. To avoid a race to the bottom, the EU must reinforce its commitment to a rules-based multilateral system, capable of delivering both decarbonisation and good industrial jobs for workers.