Welcome to Carbon Brief’s Cropped. We handpick and explain the most important stories at the intersection of climate, land, food and nature over the past fortnight.
This is an online version of Carbon Brief’s fortnightly Cropped email newsletter. Subscribe for free here.
Key developments
Migratory species in peril
EXTINCTION THREAT: A new UN-backed report, the “State of the World’s Migratory Species” found that one in five of the species listed under the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) is “threatened with extinction”, with nearly half experiencing population declines. The report examined the status of nearly 1,200 species protected under the CMS, concluding: “The impacts of climate change are already being felt by many migratory species, and these impacts are expected to increase considerably over the coming decades, not just as a direct threat to species but also as an amplifier of other threats.” Conserving these species “is extremely difficult because they cross nations, continents, even hemispheres”, Dr Amanda Rodwald, the director of the Center for Avian Population Studies at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, told Grist.
A RAY OF HOPE: Several news outlets covered the report. Yale Environment 360 noted that the report “is the first comprehensive assessment” of migratory species. It added that “marine life is particularly at risk” due to overfishing, with 97% of marine migratory species “facing extinction”, including sharks, rays and sturgeons. According to Inside Climate News, “the numbers could be even more dire because the CMS treaty…covers only about a quarter of the world’s known migratory species”. But, it added, “the authors emphasise that further species declines and habitat destruction are not inevitable”, highlighting success stories, such as that of the humpback whale. Yale E360 quoted Inger Andersen, head of the UN Environment Programme, who said: “The global community has an opportunity to translate this latest science of the pressures facing migratory species into concrete conservation action.”
CARNIVORE CONSERVATION: The report was released on 12 February at the 14th Conference of the Parties to the CMS, being held this week in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The next day, the CMS signed a memorandum of understanding with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) that “formalise[d] a commitment for IUCN and CMS to work together to protect threatened African carnivores”, according to the IUCN. The organisation said that its partnership would “raise funds and facilitate frontline conservation action targeted at protecting and recovering” lions, cheetahs, leopards and African wild dogs. Dr Grethel Aguilar, director-general of the IUCN, highlighted that those four are “species that are vital to healthy ecosystems and on which many other species depend”.
Farmers’ protests across the EU
WAVE OF PROTESTS: Carbon Brief reported that farmers across the EU, including in Belgium, France, Germany and Greece, have taken to the streets in protest over the past weeks due to a “series of concerns, including competition from cheaper imports, rising costs of energy and fertiliser and environmental rules”. Carbon Brief analysed the main demands from farmer groups in seven EU countries and found that many – but not all – were related to climate change and biodiversity conservation. Several points of contention were related to policies that have not yet been implemented, such as the EU’s upcoming nature restoration law and a pending trade agreement with several South American countries. The EU is working on other climate and biodiversity regulations ahead of parliamentary elections in June this year.
COORDINATED CONCERNS: Truckers, beekeepers and foresters joined the farmers in protest in Poland, Euractiv reported. According to a Polish apple grower, these groups are opposed to impositions that would result from the European Green Deal as well as “the influx of low-quality Ukrainian food to Poland under the liberalised EU trade rules”. In an interview with the outlet, Jacek Zarzecki of the Federation of Agricultural Producers Union said that regulations aimed at reducing agricultural emissions and enhancing animal welfare were not sufficiently supporting farmers. Meanwhile, there have also been protests in India, with Al Jazeera reporting that Indian security forces fired tear gas and authorities suspended internet services in a bid to stop thousands of farmers marching on New Delhi. Their demands “include higher support, guaranteed prices for their produce, and forgiveness for loans, as well as a clutch of other concessions”, the outlet said.
REGULATION ROLLBACK: Earlier this month, protests were “brought to the doorstep of the European parliament” in Brussels as farmers pushed the body “to abandon its most demanding emissions targets”, the Times wrote. It reported that “Brussels has struggled to contain the fightback” against agricultural regulation and that, in response, the European Commission has decided to “scrap” a plan to reduce emissions of methane, nitrogen and other gases from agriculture by 30%. Bloomberg added that the EU has also abandoned its plan to reduce the use of pesticides by half by 2030 under farmers’ pressure. It quoted European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, who said the regulation had become a “symbol of polarisation”. She added that a new proposal drafted with the input of more stakeholders “may be put forward”, Bloomberg wrote.
GENE-EDITED AFFAIRS: Meanwhile, Politico reported that the European parliament passed “a tight plenary vote” that would put gene-edited seeds – marketed as a way to reduce climate impacts on agriculture – on the market. The outlet said the patentable so-called “supercrops” could pave the way for half a dozen big suppliers to strengthen their market domination. Member states are currently “deadlocked” in negotiating the proposal, Politico added. Science explained that part of the controversy arises from whether gene-edited seeds will be protected intellectual property as “conventionally bred plants in Europe cannot be patented”.
Spotlight
New nature fund takes its first steps
On 9 February, the governing body of a “game-changing” new fund for biodiversity met for the first time in Washington DC. Carbon Brief unpacks the highlights and major decisions made at that meeting. (For more, see Carbon Brief’s detailed Q&A on progress since COP15.)
Conceived at the 2022 UN COP15 biodiversity summit in a last-minute compromise amid calls by many developing countries for a distinct fund, a landmark new nature fund is now on the verge of becoming real.
Meant to finance a tall order of conservation targets for this decade, the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) Fund is housed under the Global Environment Facility (GEF), a multilateral fund with 186 member governments. The GEF is entrusted with supporting a wide range of global environmental action. At the GEF council’s 66th meeting this week, countries agreed to invest a cumulative $1.1bn in biodiversity, climate change, restoration and pollution control.
Dr Dawda Badgie, the elected chairperson of the GBF Fund council, who hails from the Gambia, said:
“These decisions can change peoples’ lives for years to come…We have to act collectively about the challenges we are facing. They do not spare anybody.”
Members from different countries met for the first time as the GBF Fund council to approve policies framing how multilateral finance for nature in this decade will flow. The GBF Fund’s initial work programme to lay out its funding agenda is expected in June this year and financing is to follow before the end of 2024.
Funding flows
Of the decisions approved in Washington DC, the most crucial was one on how the fund’s resources will be allocated. It empowers the GEF chief executive to approve projects up to $5m and calls for a mid-term review of all projects over $2m.
The council committed to prioritising 20% of its funds to support Indigenous and local community-led conservation projects, and at least 36% to small island states and least-developed countries.
According to the Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB), calls for a written policy on the participation of Indigenous peoples in deciding what these projects should look like were also taken on board by the GEF, which agreed to develop a draft methodology by June. “Projects should engage with Indigenous peoples and local communities as partners and co-designers rather than just beneficiaries,” said the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB).
Youth groups advocated for a similar, but additional, direct funding line for women and youth, ENB added. Council members pointed to sparse funding available to many countries and suggested that organising projects in regional clusters, such as the Amazon, would ensure funding would be meaningful and impactful.
The council also decided how projects under the fund will be designed and approved, with funding priorities guided by the Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD) Conference of the Parties, or COP.
The council also approved the fund’s budget and administrative costs, including World Bank levies – even though they are still being negotiated – and staffing decisions. The IIFB urged the council to recruit staff who have experience working with Indigenous communities.
Seed capital shortage
At the meeting, Spain’s secretary of state for the environment, Hugo Morán Fernández, announced a contribution of €10m to the GBF Fund, joining Canada, Germany, the UK and Japan in pledging seed capital to kickstart the fund.
However, the World Bank’s representative at the meeting said that of these countries’ total $219.2m in pledges, only $54.6m has actually been paid into the fund so far (by Germany and Spain). This, observers warned, brings the fund’s actual capital into question and sits in sharp contrast to the yawning $700bn biodiversity finance gap.
Dr David Cooper, acting CBD chief, said in a statement:
“If we’re honest, we need an order of magnitude more in the coming few years, if we are going to meet that COP request of…scaling up finance commensurate with the targets of the GBF.
“We need this frontloading. We need this support for actions on the ground right away if we are going to have any chance of achieving those ambitious targets by 2030.”
News and views
INDONESIAN ELECTION: “More than 100 million people” were expected to cast their votes in the Indonesian election today, according to the New York Times. It continued: “As one of the world’s biggest exporters of coal, nickel and palm oil, Indonesia has a large role to play in the climate change crisis.” The vote “is widely seen as a referendum on the legacy” of two-term president Joko Widodo, the newspaper added. Early results, or “quick counts”, after the polls closed showed a “commanding lead” for current defence minister Prabowo Subianto, who has “presented himself as an heir to [the] immensely popular sitting president”, the Associated Press reported.
STRIKE FOR SAFETY: A partial strike within Brazil’s environmental agencies is “threatening” the country’s climate goals, according to a news article in Nature. Since early January, staffers at several agencies have stopped their field visits, “where they conduct deforestation surveillance and help to shut down illegal mining operations”. Nature added that “if their demands aren’t met, they could soon turn up the heat on the government and stop working altogether”. The workers contend that they are overworked and underpaid and that their safety is at risk when they are out in the field. The country is already feeling the impacts of the strike, Nature reported: “Inspectors issued 93% fewer environmental fines in the Amazon during the first two weeks of January than in the same period last year.”
AVOCADO CONFLICT: The organisation Climate Rights International said in a press release that “the Biden administration should act on a call by US senators to work with the Mexican government to prevent avocados grown on illegally deforested lands from reaching US markets”. A 2023 Climate Rights International investigation pointed out that avocado exports to major markets such as the US and EU contribute to illegal deforestation, water theft, and “dire consequences for the rights of local residents” in Mexico. Indigenous leaders and residents in two central Mexican states defending their territories from avocados’ expansion have been victims of violence, attacks and murders over the past decade, the report added.
AGRARIAN COURTS: In December, Colombian president Gustavo Petro announced a new court system that would help resolve land ownership conflicts between peasant farmers, or campesinos, and large companies, Mongabay reported. The system will eventually encompass 70 agrarian courts, with the first five set to begin operating by 2 May. According to Mongabay, “peasant farmers have long struggled for recognition by the state”. It added that while some advocates of farmers’ rights welcomed the announcement, others have voiced concerns about the lack of specialisation of judges and the risk of not having Indigenous participation in implementing the court system.
MULTITUDE OF MANGROVES: Pakistan expanded its mangroves nearly threefold over the past 30 years, according to an analysis of satellite data, Mongabay reported. Mangroves covered 48,331 hectares in 1986 and grew to 143,930 hectares in 2020. The analysis attributed the expansion to government and NGO efforts to boost the conservation of mangroves through restoration, research and awareness-raising campaigns, Mongabay explained. The study also acknowledged the role of fisher communities in planting and protecting such ecosystems, as well as “massive tree-planting projects” carried out bynational and provincial governments since 2008.
Watch, read, listen
SALT SHOCKS: A long-read in Scroll.in examined how changes in the Indian monsoon are disrupting salt production, threatening the livelihoods of traditional saltmakers.
DELTA DECIMATED: Shrimp farming in the Mekong Delta – touted as a step towards climate and economic resilience – is “ultimately unsustainable”, the Diplomat wrote.
ANTARCTIC OBSERVATIONS: National Public Radio interviewed a team of scientists testing a drone that will help map the terrain in Antarctica.
CONSERVING CORALS: PBS News Hour explored how scientists are trying to conserve and preserve the remaining coral reefs in Florida.
New science
Arctic marine heatwaves forced by greenhouse gases and triggered by abrupt sea-ice melt
Communications Earth and Environment
A new attribution study revealed that marine heatwaves in the Arctic are being triggered by a combination of greenhouse-gas-induced warming and “abrupt” melting of sea ice. The research found that the most intense Arctic marine heatwave on record, which occurred in 2020, had temperatures up to 4C higher than normal and lasted for 103 days, “would be exceptionally unlikely in the absence of greenhouse gas forcing in terms of both intensity and duration”. According to the paper, marine heatwaves in the Arctic can impact fish stocks and marine food chains, thus affecting Indigenous communities and fisheries. The study concluded that if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, “moderate marine heatwaves in the Arctic will very likely persistently reoccur”.
Widespread temporal and spatial variability in net ecosystem productivity under climate change
One Earth
A new study found that future net ecosystem productivity – the difference between the amount of carbon taken out of the air through photosynthesis and the amount respired by plants – is more variable than previously thought. Using a combination of data and models, researchers explored how ecosystem productivity might vary in space and time under different emissions scenarios. They found that under a “very low” emissions scenario, carbon storage in the Amazon is “projected to decline considerably” by 2100. Under higher emissions scenarios, carbon storage “will likely increase” due to the CO2 fertilisation effect, the study said – although it did not take into account disturbances such as drought and fire. The result, the researchers wrote, “highlight[s] the need for effective actions to maintain [the Amazon’s] carbon storage capacity under climate change”.
Projected changes in mean and extreme precipitation over northern Mexico
Journal of Climate
The frequency of extreme rainfall events in northern Mexico would likely double by the end of the century under a scenario of very high emissions, “exacerbating the flood risk for vulnerable communities”, according to new research. The study found that by the end of the century, average and extreme rainfall would decrease west of the Sierra Madre highlands and increase to the east, with “implications for the agricultural sector, economy and infrastructure”. The region is home to 32 million people, yet, the study says, few studies have analysed future trends in mean or extreme rainfall there.
In the diary
- 11-17 February: 14th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals | Samarkand, Uzbekistan
- 26-29 February: World Trade Organization ministerial conference | Abu Dhabi
- 26 February-1 March: Sixth session of the UN environment assembly | Nairobi
Cropped is researched and written by Dr Giuliana Viglione, Aruna Chandrasekhar, Daisy Dunne, Orla Dwyer and Yanine Quiroz. Please send tips and feedback to cropped@carbonbrief.org
The post Cropped 14 February 2024: Nature fund gets real; Migratory species in peril; EU rolls back regulations appeared first on Carbon Brief.
Nations are “back on track” to adopt a framework for curbing global shipping emissions, following the latest International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) meeting in London, UK.
The proposed “net-zero framework” had been expected to be approved by countries at the IMO towards the end of 2025.
Instead, the Trump administration was accused of “bully-boy” tactics as the US led a concerted effort to reject the framework, leading to its approval being delayed.
Since then, the US, other fossil-fuel producers and some industry groups have called for the framework to be stripped of its carbon-pricing mechanism, or abandoned entirely.
At the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC84) meeting in London, UK, last week, nations tried once again to reach an agreement on the framework.
Opponents said they were trying to seek consensus, but supporters, such as Brazil, the EU and Pacific islands, pointed out the framework was already a “careful balance of interests”.
Liberia and Panama – “flag states” for a third of the world’s commercial shipping – led a counter-proposal, alongside Argentina, which effectively cut carbon pricing from the framework.
Ultimately, however, the meeting ended with a reconfirmation that delegations are committed to rebuilding consensus on global shipping emissions.
The framework survived the negotiations and the committee will now try to adopt it at its December 2026 meeting.
Below, Carbon Brief explains why the framework has proved so contentious, who the major players have been and what the final outcome was at the latest IMO meeting.
- Why was the net-zero framework delayed last year?
- Why do some countries oppose the net-zero framework?
- What ‘alternative frameworks’ were discussed?
- What do supporters of the net-zero framework want?
- What was the final outcome from the IMO meeting?
Why was the net-zero framework delayed last year?
In April 2025, nations at the IMO had agreed on a “net-zero framework” at their MEPC83 meeting in London, despite the US withdrawing halfway through.
Later that year, in October 2025, they failed to formally adopt the framework after a fraught meeting that saw US negotiators accused of “bully-boy tactics”.
The framework was meant to be a practical set of measures to achieve the global net-zero target for shipping, agreed at the IMO in 2023. The target is significant, as international shipping is responsible for more than 2% of emissions and is not covered by the Paris Agreement.
Following a week of negotiations at the April 2025 meeting, the remaining nations had voted on approving a compromise proposal for an emissions levy – effectively a carbon tax on global shipping – and a credit-trading system.
A majority of nations had agreed to this framework that would have set a lower emissions-intensity reduction target of 4% in 2028, rising to 30% in 2035. It had also included an upper target that would have increased from 17% in 2028 to 43% in 2035.
Ships that failed to lower their emissions intensity in line with these limits would have needed to purchase “remedial units” for $380 per “tier two” unit. This would have fed into a new IMO “net-zero fund”.
Those who met the lower target, but fell short of the more difficult upper target, would have had to pay into the IMO fund, but at the lower rate of $100 per “tier one” unit.
The number of compliant ships had been expected to grow under this framework, reducing the number of vessels reliant on buying units and helping to reduce emissions intensity by over 40%, as the chart below shows.
The purchase of units to comply with the rules had been expected to raise $10-15bn annually in the initial years of the fund, as well as help with the development of zero and near-zero (ZNZ) greenhouse gas fuels and energy sources, according to thinktank IDDRI.
In turn, the fund would have been used to support developing countries to decarbonise shipping.
A clear majority of 80% of the eligible voters – not including those who abstained or the US – approved the framework at the April 2025 meeting.
The 63 countries that voted in favour included the EU, China, India and Brazil, while those that voted against included major fossil-fuel producers, such as Saudi Arabia, Russia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Following this “landmark” agreement, countries had then been expected to formally adopt the framework at the next MEPC session in October 2025.
However, the meeting proved challenging. The US “unequivocally rejected” the proposal and lobbied extensively against adoption, including by threatening governments, individual diplomats and shipping companies with sanctions, visa restrictions, tariffs and port fees.
During the October meeting, the US and its allies pushed for a shift from a “tacit” approval system for the net-zero framework to one that would require explicit acceptance by governments. This would mean it would only come into force if, six months later, two-thirds of nations actively accepted the deal, Climate Home News explained at the time.
Negotiations continued throughout the week before Saudi Arabia called to adjourn the meeting, a move that was passed after it was backed by 57 countries.
As such, the decision on the adoption of the net-zero framework was pushed back by a year.
Among the 63 countries that supported the IMO net-zero framework at MEPC83 in April 2025, 15 supported the adjournment and 10 abstained – showing that some nations that had previously supported the framework had softened on the deal, following lobbying by the US, Saudi Arabia and their allies.
Going into the April 2026 MEPC84 meeting, it was clear that agreement on the framework would not be straightforward. A report ahead of the meeting from University College London (UCL) noted:
“The level of support is noticeably weaker than in April [2025] and likely reflects the effectiveness and efforts made by sides supporting or opposing the net-zero framework over the intervening period.”
In the week ahead of the MEPC84, US IMO delegation lead Wayne Arguin told a meeting that there was a “clear, strong and sizable bloc of countries opposed to the [net-zero framework]” and “no prospect of achieving consensus”, according to Politico.
As the meeting kicked off on 27 April 2026, IMO secretary-general Arsenio Dominguez called on parties to engage in “engage in constructive and pragmatic exchanges”.
Why do some countries oppose the net-zero framework?
A coalition of countries, including the US, Saudi Arabia and various fossil-fuel producers, strongly oppose the IMO net-zero framework that was agreed last year.
They were supported by a wider group of industry bodies and major flag states – countries where many ships are registered – which were instrumental in advancing “alternative frameworks” at the latest meeting. (See: What ‘alternative frameworks’ were discussed?)
Documents submitted ahead of the April 2026 meeting laid out the basis for this opposition, with the US criticising the net-zero framework’s “significant shortcomings”, concluding:
“The most appropriate path forward is to end consideration of the IMO net-zero framework entirely.”
More nuance came in a statement from a group of primarily large fossil-fuel producers, including Saudi Arabia, Russia and Algeria, which was also backed by the US.
It stressed the need for “alternative” frameworks, with an emphasis on achieving consensus, as well as “practicability, equity and trust”. In practice, this meant a system without any carbon pricing, “top-down restrictions” or “international penalties”.
Opposing countries said any outcome should be “technology-neutral”, meaning it should not disadvantage specific fuels, potentially including liquified natural gas (LNG) and other fossil fuels.
These nations also stressed what they claimed were the potential impact of additional net-zero costs on “food and energy security”.
Much of their criticism was based on supposed economic harm that the net-zero framework would cause, particularly in developing countries.
These arguments purported to be about fairness for these countries. Yet some opponents of the framework were also calling for the IMO fund to be abandoned.
If this IMO fund were lost, then developing countries could lose out on a potential source of support for their own maritime decarbonisation, as well as potentially their broader energy transitions.
As well as supporting the fossil-fuel producers’ call for “alternative frameworks”, the UAE filed its own submission questioning the legitimacy of the IMO in establishing a new fund.
The US submission to the IMO stated that the fund would provide “pennies on the dollar compared to the economic hardship” brought about by the framework overall.
US delegates distributed flyers at the IMO meeting, emphasising the financial burden they claimed the framework would place on developing countries. While low-carbon shipping will come with substantial costs, analysts said the US figures were “not credible”.
Campaigners accused the US of “pretending to care about other countries’ economies”, pointing out that the energy crisis – triggered by the US-led war on Iran – is costing the shipping industry billions.
Moreover, they stated that the Trump administration’s new port entry fees would be a far greater financial burden for the global shipping industry than the mooted net-zero rules.
Analysis by UCL shipping researchers ahead of MEPC84 concluded that the Trump administration would potentially be less able to exert “soft power and influence” at the talks than last year. Additionally, it pointed to a Supreme Court ruling that limited the US’s capacity to impose punitive tariffs.
In practice, the US was less vocal at the talks, choosing to support alternative framework ideas proposed by other IMO members.
What ‘alternative frameworks’ were discussed?
There were two main alternatives to the net-zero framework considered at MEPC84.
Japan suggested some ideas as a “possible basis for discussion”, which included removing the need for ships to pay into an IMO fund when they fail to meet emissions targets.
It also suggested simply relaxing the emissions targets, in order to make them easier for shipping companies to meet.
The second – and more significant – counter-proposal to the net-zero framework was not submitted by the US or its fossil-fuel producer allies.
Instead, it came from Liberia, Panama and Argentina, three countries that have strong political and historical ties with the US.
This was particularly notable given Liberia and Panama’s status as the top two “flags of convenience”, as shown in the chart below. A third of the world’s commercial shipping is registered in these small states, giving them disproportionate significance within the talks.
Their proposal, offered in the spirit of “consensus‑building”, said that only fuels already considered “commercially viable” should be included in the IMO’s carbon-intensity targets.
The Argentina-Liberia-Panama proposal was dismissed by observers as “business-as-usual”, as it removes incentives to develop clean fuels, any substantial means of enforcement and opportunities to raise funds to help developing countries.
Delaine McCullough, director of the shipping programme at the Ocean Conservancy, tells Carbon Brief:
“By removing the mandatory greenhouse gas price, you take away the ability to provide any kind of rewards or other incentives, and you also take away the regulatory incentive, so you just end up where we are today.”
This was the proposal that the net-zero framework’s most prominent opponents, including the US and the Gulf states, rallied around at MEPC84.
Among those also backing the idea during the talks were some developing countries, such as Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, that also said they wanted the IMO outcome to provide them with financial support.
This came in spite of the proposal stating there should be “no establishment of an IMO fund”. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a small-island state delegate tells Carbon Brief:
“Many countries that support the Liberia-Panama-Argentina submission also seek support for transition, capacity-building and mitigation of negative impacts. This support will not be available if [that] approach is taken.”
Some delegates questioned the decision by Liberia and Panama to lead this pushback against the net-zero framework. Both nations had previously supported an emissions levy on shipping, which would have been far more ambitious than the framework they now oppose.
Observers noted ties between nations that opposed the framework and parts of the shipping sector – including US-based interests and LNG assets.
Among the industry voices arguing strongly against the net-zero framework have been the American Bureau of Shipping and a group of international shipping companies and registries – including the national registries of Liberia and Panama.
The latter group voiced “significant concerns” and called for “alternative proposals”. Rather than a domestic entity, the Liberian registry that issued this statement is a privately owned US company.
Reflecting on these issues, Prof Tristan Smith, an energy and transport expert at UCL, wrote on LinkedIn:
“Privately owned registries have leverage over their host governments because one angry shipowner’s personal wealth is more than the flag state’s GDP and governments of low-income countries can’t easily take risks with even small volume revenues.”
Major Greek shipowners, including some with US-linked LNG interests, also opposed the net-zero framework, citing the “absence of support from major and influential states representing a significant share of global tonnage”.
Greece itself had reportedly pushed back against the framework behind the scenes, despite the EU’s public, unified position of support.
What do supporters of the net-zero framework want?
There were many vocal supporters of the net-zero framework at MEPC84, including a broad range of developed and developing countries.
Among them were the EU, Brazil, Mexico, Kenya, Pacific island states, Australia and the UK.
Having supported the net-zero framework last April, but voted to postpone its adoption in October, China expressed support for a carbon-pricing system and an IMO fund in a technical submission issued ahead of MEPC84.
The major shipping nation had remained quiet during the US-Saudi disruption in October last year, so its submission was viewed as a positive for backers of the framework.
Colombia, which was simultaneously hosting a global conference on “transitioning away” from fossil fuels, also emerged as a supporter of the net-zero framework.
There has also been support from some sections of the shipping industry, including a large coalition of ports, logistics companies and clean-fuel providers.
Supportive nations pointed out that the net-zero framework was the result of years of talks and already represented what Pacific island states called a “fragile compromise”. They framed it as the “only politically viable option” for hitting the IMO’s net-zero goal.
Pacific islands and around 50 other nations had originally called for a universal carbon levy on shipping. Ultimately, they were forced to accept the net-zero framework as a compromise, but Pacific islands said they would revert to their call for a levy if they felt the framework was being “watered down”.
The demand for a levy was strongly opposed by numerous countries, including some of the current framework’s supporters, such as Brazil and Australia.
In a bid to revive the net-zero framework, a submission by Brazil sought to “dispel any possible potential misunderstandings”, stressing that the approach is “flexible” and “should not be mistaken for a ‘global tax’”.
For example, Brazil notes that the framework “does not exclude any fuels” and that even existing “bunker” fuels and LNG could be used, as long as carbon intensity targets are met. (Ships could, for example, use carbon capture and storage to meet the goals.)
Michael Mbaru, a low-carbon shipping expert for the Kenya climate special envoy, told a briefing ahead of the conference that the net-zero framework was in developing countries’ interests:
“If the global package unravels, pressure grows for more regional and unilateral measures instead, and this is particularly difficult for African and other developing countries, because fragmented regulation raises compliance, complexity [and] transaction costs.”
In response to the Argentina-Liberia-Panama proposal that opponents of the framework had coalesced around, the Solomon Islands pointed out that, in seeking “consensus”, this group was ignoring the numerous parties that wanted more ambition, rather than less. It stated in a submission:
“There is no reason to expect that a new proposal, that differs from the IMO net-zero framework, would find a majority, much less a consensus.”
Nevertheless, supporters of the net-zero framework also acknowledged that there were some areas where greater clarity might help countries to finalise the details.
These areas include clarifying technical considerations such as: how fuel intensity is calculated; addressing the potential impacts of net-zero rules on food security; the governance of the IMO fund; and regulation of sustainable fuel certification schemes.
Given this, there was broad support for more discussions at an extra “intersessional” meeting later this year, in order to hash out these final details before attempting to approve the net-zero framework once more.
What was the final outcome from the IMO meeting?
Ultimately, the IMO’s net-zero framework was agreed and will now be negotiated further in the uutumn, ahead of the next MEPC meeting in December 2026.
The decision, as well as the general willingness to move forward noted by numerous observers, was broadly welcomed. IMO secretary-general Arsenio Dominguez said:
“We are back on track, but we have to rebuild trust. I encourage you to maintain this momentum through your intersessional work and to prepare submissions that can bring the membership together.”
Over the week of negotiations, nearly 100 delegations took to the floor to voice their opinions on the adoption of the net-zero framework.
Of these, over half were in favour of it, including countries like the EU, Brazil, Colombia, Kenya, Tuvalu and others.
Others pushed for reopening the framework for substantial changes, including the US, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Liberia and others.
On Friday 1 May, the discussion turned to the terms of reference for further negotiation and countries agreed to move the net-zero forward as the only option in the final outcome text.
Em Fenton, senior director of climate diplomacy at Opportunity Green, tells Carbon Brief:
“The framework has survived, but survival is not a victory and we cannot end up in a cycle of open-ended negotiations. Taking forward consideration of multiple proposals is only acceptable as a bridge, not a destination.
“We must now look forward to moving towards adoption of the framework later this year in a way that maintains urgency and ambition, and delivers justice and equity for countries on the frontlines of climate impacts.”
The IMO committee agreed to establish an intersessional working group to resolve a number of outstanding concerns and “drive broader convergence on a global measure” ahead of the next MEPC meeting.
Member states will be able to submit new amendments and adjustments to complement those already approved.
The two intersessional meetings will take place in September and November, ahead of MEPC85 in December.
Christiaan De Beukelaer, senior lecturer in culture and climate at the University of Melbourne, tells Carbon Brief:
“The ship is mostly built, though it’s obvious that more work needs doing on its interior. Right now, some are trying to finish the build while others are trying to scuttle it.”
The post Q&A: How countries got the global ‘net-zero’ shipping deal ‘back on track’ appeared first on Carbon Brief.
Q&A: How countries got the global ‘net-zero’ shipping deal ‘back on track’
Climate Change
Cropped 6 May 2026: Forest loss falls | Deforestation regulations | Saving ‘India’s Galapagos’
We handpick and explain the most important stories at the intersection of climate, land, food and nature over the past fortnight.
This is an online version of Carbon Brief’s fortnightly Cropped email newsletter.
Subscribe for free here.
Key developments
Forest loss falls
DRIVER DECLINE: Tropical primary forest loss fell by more than one-third from 2024-25, according to the latest edition of the Global Forest Review. (Primary forests are those that are intact or relatively undisturbed by humans.) The World Resources Institute, which co-produced the report, noted that the loss of these forests is “still 46% higher than [it was] a decade ago”. It attributed much of this year’s decline to a decrease from last year’s “record-breaking year of extreme fires”.
WIDESPREAD COLLABS: Although Brazil had the largest loss in terms of area, deforestation in the country fell by 42% compared to the previous year, reported Agência Brasil. It noted that this was made possible by a governmental task force, “with the participation of civil society, academia, local communities and the private sector”. In Indonesia, Malaysia and Colombia, progress “reflected improved governance, recognition of Indigenous land rights and corporate commitments to deforestation-free production”, said EnviroNews Nigeria.
EXCEEDING THE LIMIT: Despite the decline, the amount of deforestation “still remains ‘far above’ the level required to put the world on track to meet international targets to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030”, said BusinessGreen. It added that “fires present a growing threat that could reverse recent gains”, despite the declines from 2024. Reuters noted: “Agricultural expansion continued to be the biggest driver of forest loss around the world.”
EU deforestation law watered down
UNDER PRESSURE: Following industry pressure, the European Commission decided to “exclude imports of leather from its anti-deforestation law”, according to Reuters. The newswire said: “Leather industry groups have argued that as a by-product of the meat industry, with a relatively low value, leather’s production does not incentivise the cattle farming that drives deforestation.” It added that imported beef is still covered by the law.
‘LONG-OVERDUE’: Meanwhile, a group of UK Parliament members released an open letter calling for “long-overdue regulations to end UK imports linked to illegal deforestation”. Although the forest-risk regulation was introduced in 2021 as part of the Environment Act, “lawmakers have spent the last four years delaying the implementation” of the anti-deforestation rules, according to a Mongabay report from last year.
PROVISIONAL DEAL: The EU-Mercosur deal – a trade agreement between the European bloc and four South American countries – provisionally came into force on 1 May “after 25 years of negotiations”, said Euractiv. The application of the agreement is provisional because members of the European Parliament “referred the deal to the European Court of Justice for a legal review” in January, it added.
News and views
- PACKAGING PLANTATION: Asia Symbol, a China-based pulp and paper company, cleared “vast tracts of Indonesian rainforest home to endangered orangutans…for plantations supplying a maker of ‘carbon-neutral’ packaging”, according to an investigation by Agence France-Presse and the Gecko Project. The company told AFP that it is “committed to its no-deforestation policy”, while the newswire noted that the plantations supplying the paper mill have permits from the Indonesian government.
- SODA MOUNTAIN SOLAR: The California Energy Commission approved a proposed $700m solar power plant in the Mojave Desert after “nearly 20 years” of challenges, reported the San Bernardino Sun. Last month, climate journalist Sammy Roth dove into the history of – and current debate over – the Soda Mountain project on his Substack, Climate Colored Goggles.
- POSITIVE TIPPING POINTS: In a Nature Sustainability perspective piece, Prof Tim Lenton at the University of Exeter argued for the existence of “positive tipping points” – ecological, social or socio-ecological states where feedback loops that “suppor[t] self-propelling nature-positive change can help” achieve nature-recovery goals.
- ‘ACUTE HUNGER’: Nearly eight million people in South Sudan are at risk of “acute food insecurity” in coming months, “fuelled by ethnic conflict, climate change and the spillover of fighting from neighbouring Sudan”, according to Al Jazeera coverage of a new Integrated Food Security Phase Classification analysis. Meanwhile, a UN-produced global food crises report showed that “acute hunger” has doubled over the past decade, with two famines declared last year for the first time since the reports began a decade ago.
- SUMMERTIME SADNESS: Production of India’s prized Devgad Alphonso mango “has dropped by 70-90%” this summer, due to both “climate shock” and “ineffective pesticides”, reported the Print. Rich mango farmers in western India staged a “rare protest” demanding compensation for their losses, the outlet added, while a Print comment called for a “shift from compensation to climate-adaptation policies”.
- SEED SUIT: A judge at the Kenyan High Court “declared unconstitutional parts of a law that prohibited farmers from sharing and selling Indigenous seeds” – although the government has appealed the decision, reported Devex. The lawyer who represented the farmers in the suit “said that the ruling could have ripple effects worldwide”, it added.
Spotlight
Saving ‘India’s Galapagos’
This week, Carbon Brief follows the uproar around the Great Nicobar project, after India’s opposition leader visited the biodiversity hotspot, which is at imminent risk of deforestation.
On 30 April, Rahul Gandhi – the head of India’s opposition and grandson of former prime minister Indira Gandhi – posted an Instagram video from the evergreen rainforest on Great Nicobar island, the southernmost point of India’s territory.
The island is the site of a proposed $10bn infrastructure project called the Great Nicobar Island Project, which includes a transhipment port in Galathea Bay, an international airport, a township and a gas and solar-based power plant.
Completion of the project would require the felling of more than a million trees – nearly 130 square kilometres of forest.
Speaking to the camera and dwarfed by gigantic tree trunks, Gandhi said:
“I’m in the middle of what is easily the most beautiful forest I’ve seen in my life.”
As drone footage showed viewers the lush forest canopy, Gandhi told viewers that the primary forest here is so dense, there was simply no way through. He continued by claiming:
“Now I understand why the government did not want me to come…because this is the largest theft of Indian ecological property in history.”
(In February, India’s National Green Tribunal upheld environmental clearances for the project, stating that the government had “considered all possible damage to the ecology and had taken efforts to compensate it”, according to the Hindu. A challenge is pending in the Calcutta High Court. In March, India announced it was raising its forest carbon target in its 2035 climate pledge.)
The provocative video calling for a halt to large-scale deforestation on “India’s Galapagos” has garnered more than 1.4m views and has sparked media debate, smear campaigns and government pushback, defending its strategic importance.
Paradise almost lost?
Barely hours after Gandhi’s video was posted, the Indian government published a press release detailing how environmental and tribal welfare safeguards have been met, despite more evidence to the contrary emerging this week.
Several media outlets – particularly print and independent outlets – have gone to Great Nicobar since 2024 to investigate the project’s impacts on biodiversity, assess its economic viability and corroborate the government’s claims of receiving Indigenous consent.
However, many of the project’s details have been shrouded in secrecy and restrictive conditions, including “gag orders” on scientists, rebuffed right to information requests and missing maps of tribal lands and coral colonies, media investigations have alleged.
For many mainland Indians, Gandhi’s video was a first glimpse of the Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve and its 1,800 species, many of them endemic to the islands.
Turtle walker
Among the most charismatic and vulnerable are Great Nicobar’s sea turtles: leatherbacks, hawksbills and Olive Ridleys.
In an era before Instagram, biologist Satish Bhaskar surveyed over 4,000km of India’s coastline on foot from 1977-96 to document sea turtle nesting sites. Bhaskar laid the groundwork – and established the baseline – for Great Nicobar’s biodiversity and turtle conservation in India.
With only a transistor radio for company, Bhaskar would “maroon himself” on these islands for months at a time to measure tracks in the sand, count eggs and nests and wait for sightings of leatherback sea turtles, which can grow up to 2.7 metres long and weigh up to half a tonne.
From 1991-92, Bhaskar recorded more than 800 leatherback turtle nests on Great Nicobar Island alone. He identified Port Campbell Bay – where Gandhi met Nicobarese leaders last week – as a critical, irreplaceable turtle-nesting beach during his surveys.
“I’m glad I did what I did,” said the soft-spoken biologist in the 2025 documentary Turtle Walker, which recreates his early years on the island. Sadly, this new footage of Nicobar’s coastal reefs, mangroves and evergreen forests – is still only accessible to film festival audiences in India.
Can more visual, vocal and felt evidence shift the debate on deforestation in India? Experts told Carbon Brief that remains to be seen, but Gandhi’s video has brought “tremendous attention” back to the project, and brought in unlikely allies asking important questions.
Watch, read, listen
GO FISH: BBC News explored how climate change is “threaten[ing] the economic backbone” of the Pacific island nation of Kiribati – its tuna fisheries.
LIFE AFTER COWS: The New York Times profiled Butter Ridge’s dairy farmers selling their generations-old Pennsylvania farm in the face of looming tariffs and “surging” input costs.
C FOR COMMODITY: On the Wilder podcast, Sue Pritchard – chief executive of the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission – explored the “invisible forces” shaping modern food systems.
WAR FALLOUT: From oil spills to contaminated soil, Wired took a closer look at how the war on Iran is impacting the environment in “unseen ways”.
New science
- Commercial bottom-trawling fishing costs Europe nearly €16bn per year, mainly due to the release of carbon from ocean sediments | Ocean & Coastal Management
- A combination of global warming of 1.5-1.9C and deforestation of 22-28% could drive the Amazon to “system-wide changes” | Nature
- By 2050, 74% of the current habitats of all land mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians could be exposed to heatwaves under a high-emissions scenario | Nature Ecology & Evolution
In the diary
- 11-15 May: 21st session of the UN Forum on Forests | New York City
- 11 to 15 May: Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) regional conference for Europe | Dushanbe, Tajikistan
- 13 May: Webinar on the State of Forests report from the World Resources Institute | Online
- 22 May: International day for biological diversity
Cropped is researched and written by Dr Giuliana Viglione, Aruna Chandrasekhar, Daisy Dunne, Orla Dwyerand Yanine Quiroz. Please send tips and feedback to cropped@carbonbrief.org
The post Cropped 6 May 2026: Forest loss falls | Deforestation regulations | Saving ‘India’s Galapagos’ appeared first on Carbon Brief.
Cropped 6 May 2026: Forest loss falls | Deforestation regulations | Saving ‘India’s Galapagos’
Climate Change
Analysis: Wind and solar have saved UK from gas imports worth £1.7bn since Iran war began
The UK has avoided the need for gas imports worth £1.7bn since the start of the Iran war, as a result of record electricity generation from wind and solar, reveals Carbon Brief analysis.
The surge in wind and solar output is cutting the need for gas-fired generation, which has been nearly a third lower than last year and fell to record lows in both March and April 2026.
The figure below shows that wind and solar have generated a record 21 terawatt hours (TWh) on the island of Great Britain since the end of February 2026, when the US and Israel first attacked Iran.
Amid another fossil-fuel price crisis, the record wind and solar output since the start of the Iran war avoided the need to import 41TWh of gas – roughly 34 tankers of liquified natural gas (LNG).
Importing those 34 tankers of LNG would have cost around £1.7bn, given the high gas prices triggered by the conflict.
At the same time, record wind and solar helped to cut electricity generation from gas by around a third year-on-year to the lowest levels ever recorded for the months of March and April, as shown in the figure below.
Together, wind and solar have generated more than twice as much electricity as fossil fuels over the period since the Iran war began. The country’s electricity mix has now flipped: a decade ago, fossil fuels were generating more than four times as much electricity as wind and solar.
Indeed, wind and solar have generated more electricity than fossil fuels for a record 15 months in a row. As shown in the figure below, this included a full winter season for the first time in 2025-26.
This meant that gas was setting the price of electricity roughly 25% less often in both March 2026 and April 2026 than in the same month in 2022, when fossil-fuel prices spiked after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
April 2026 also marked a series of other records for the GB electricity system.
For half an hour between 15.30 and 16:00 on 22 April, a record 98.8% of the electricity feeding into the country’s main “transmission” grid came from zero-carbon sources, according to the National Energy System Operator (NESO).
In addition, solar generation hit a series of new record-highs, ultimately reaching 15.4 gigawatts (GW) on the afternoon of 23 April. Wind set a new record of 23.9GW on 25 March.
The post Analysis: Wind and solar have saved UK from gas imports worth £1.7bn since Iran war began appeared first on Carbon Brief.
Analysis: Wind and solar have saved UK from gas imports worth £1.7bn since Iran war began
-
Climate Change9 months ago
Guest post: Why China is still building new coal – and when it might stop
-
Greenhouse Gases9 months ago
Guest post: Why China is still building new coal – and when it might stop
-
Greenhouse Gases2 years ago嘉宾来稿：满足中国增长的用电需求 光伏加储能“比新建煤电更实惠”
-
Climate Change2 years ago嘉宾来稿：满足中国增长的用电需求 光伏加储能“比新建煤电更实惠”
-
Climate Change2 years ago
Bill Discounting Climate Change in Florida’s Energy Policy Awaits DeSantis’ Approval
-
Renewable Energy7 months agoSending Progressive Philanthropist George Soros to Prison?
-
Carbon Footprint2 years agoUS SEC’s Climate Disclosure Rules Spur Renewed Interest in Carbon Credits
-
Greenhouse Gases10 months ago
嘉宾来稿：探究火山喷发如何影响气候预测