W.45 Policy Watch
Global
The postponement of the IMO Net-Zero Framework leaves UK and Swedish maritime sectors navigating overlapping EU and UK carbon rules, creating policy uncertainty that could either raise compliance costs or reward early green-fuel investment. To share more insights and implications of the IMO Net-Zero Framework, Claes Berglund, Director of Public Affairs, and Eleanor Franklin, Regulatory Advisor and Maritime Sustainability Expert at Stena generously provided expert insight.
IMO Net-Zero Framework
The IMO Net-Zero Framework is a planned global levy on ships’ carbon emissions.
A vote on 17 October split 57-49 and pushed any decision on the policy back to October 2026, leaving owners unsure which fuels will be taxed or when. Until the new rules land, every refuelling choice is a gamble.
UK and Sweden
Swedish and UK ferry, container, tanker, fishing and port operators must continue to buy fuel without knowing if the EU, the UK or the IMO will set the final price, so order books and refit schedules are on hold. Shipyards and bunker suppliers in the regions are reporting quieter enquiry desks.
What to look out for:
Over the next twelve months Brussels will review its own maritime carbon rules, London will open a UK-ETS consultation, and both could overlap with a slimmer IMO package in 2026, creating either extra costs or early-mover credits for companies that secure green-fuel contracts now.
Tracking these parallel timetables will be critical for any balance sheet that includes North Sea freight.
Local
The new UK–Sweden Memorandum of Understanding on Research and Innovation, signed on 20 October 2025, strengthens cross-European cooperation in advanced technologies, science, and digital industries, marking a key step toward closer bilateral engagement between the UK and Sweden within Europe’s innovation landscape.
Sweden
For Sweden, the agreement reinforces its position as a regional innovation hub and trusted European partner to the UK.
The MoU aligns closely with Sweden’s domestic agenda on green technology, digitalisation, and research excellence, creating new opportunities for Swedish institutions and start-ups to work directly with UK universities, labs, and funding bodies.
Swedish officials highlighted that the partnership will accelerate collaboration in AI, quantum computing, fusion energy, and advanced connectivity, while supporting joint access to European frameworks such as Horizon Europe. It also underscores Sweden’s intent to maintain strong ties with the UK despite Brexit, anchoring Stockholm’s role as a bridge between Nordic innovation and the broader European market.
United Kingdom
For the UK, the MoU represents a strategic reconnection with Europe’s high-tech ecosystem and a boost for its science-superpower ambitions.
It gives British researchers and businesses access to Swedish expertise and potential co-funded projects in clean energy, advanced manufacturing, and next-generation telecommunications.
The deal complements the UK’s renewed participation in Horizon Europe and helps rebuild long-term research links lost during Brexit.
Review
This agreement is a practical framework for UK-Sweden collaboration that could set a model for other bilateral innovation pacts across Europe.
By linking two of Europe’s most research-intensive economies, the MoU strengthens regional competitiveness and offers both countries a shared platform to influence future EU-aligned science and innovation policy.
Claes Berglund, Director of Public Affairs, and Eleanor Franklin, Regulatory Advisor and Maritime Sustainability Expert at Stena elaborate further below on the IMO Net-Zero Framework, providing expert insight into how the regulation affects businesses in practice:
“Stena’s Reflections on the IMO Net Zero Framework Adjournment
Some 50,000 ships operate across the world’s oceans, enabling efficient global trade. Yet the shipping industry accounts for roughly 3% of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions — a share that must be substantially reduced in the coming decades.
The United Nations’ International Maritime Organization (IMO) is the industry’s regulatory body, and in July 2023, reached a landmark agreement on a revised GHG strategy, setting an ambitious objective of achieving net-zero emissions on or around 2050. This milestone reflects years of study and negotiation among member states. Supporting the strategy, a new regulatory mechanism, the Net Zero Framework, was developed to reduce the greenhouse gas intensity of marine fuels.
In spring 2025, the IMO approved the Net Zero Framework, by majority vote. Under IMO procedures, member states reconvened in October 2025 to adopt the final wording. If successfully adopted, the Framework would proceed through the acceptance process, and apply from 1 January 2028.
However, October’s meetings revealed strong opposition, led by the United States and Saudi Arabia, resulting in a postponement of at least twelve months. Whilst industry has spent the last 6 months developing compliance strategies to the Framework, this delay creates uncertainty at a pivotal moment. Shipowners must now weigh substantial investments in low-carbon technologies and fuel supplies, with the unknown costs of regulatory compliance. Moreover, in a potential future without a unified global measure, ship owners can expect global regulatory fragmentation, such as the European Union’s Emissions Trading System, but also other systems from the UK, Türkiye and African States on the radar.
At Stena, we aim to be a leader on reducing emissions across our operations and collaborating throughout the maritime value chain — securing dependable supplies of alternative marine fuels such as biofuels and methanol and supporting the development of standards that guide their production, transport, and use. The IMO’s 2023 GHG strategy remains our guiding star, it is the foundation on which global alignment and practical progress must continue to develop.”