NGOs Seek IMO Clarification on LNG and Biofuels

Letter Seeks Clarity Ahead of November Talks

Twelve civil society organisations sent a letter on 27 October 2026 to IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez, asking him to confirm that member states, guided by independent science, will decide how specific fuels are treated under the Net-Zero Framework (Stand.earth joined later, bringing the number of signatories to 13). The letter was published by signatory Maritime Beyond Methane (MARBEM) and carried by Hellenic Shipping News. It came after Dominguez spoke about LNG at the Global Maritime Forum Annual Summit in Shanghai on 21 October 2026, remarks TradeWinds covered under the headline “IMO chief makes case for LNG.”

The IMO’s intersessional working group on GHG emissions meets on 23-27 November 2026, ahead of MEPC 85 (30 November-3 December) and a resumed extraordinary session provisionally set for 4 December, subject to confirmation by MEPC 85. The Net-Zero Framework was approved at MEPC 83 in April 2025, but in October 2025 the extraordinary session adjourned its adoption for a year; it has not been adopted and is not in force. The treatment of individual fuels, set through the framework’s reward mechanism and its lifecycle assessment (LCA) guidelines, has not yet been agreed, and the September working group meeting deferred the LCA documents to the November session.

Methane Slip and Climate Impact Cited

The letter leans on two studies by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT). According to the signatories, ICCT’s 2024 FUMES work measured average methane slip of 6.4% of fuel in the most widely used type of LNG marine engine, close to twice the 3.5% figure the IMO uses. They also cite a 2020 ICCT analysis concluding that, on a 20-year horizon, LNG delivers no climate benefit whatever the engine technology.

Four Requests to the Secretary-General

The organisations want Dominguez to:

1. Confirm that his Shanghai remarks did not aim to prejudge the outcome for any specific fuel, LNG and biofuels included.
2. Say publicly, once more, that member states will decide fuel treatment on the basis of independent, science-based LCA guidelines.
3. Give every delegation the same access to information and to the process, including any technical briefings on fuels by the Secretariat.
4. Ground the discussion in the IMO’s 2023 Strategy and its 2030 goal of at least 5%, striving for 10%, zero or near-zero emission energy.

IMO Acknowledges Receipt

The Secretary-General’s Executive Office acknowledged the letter on 28 October 2026 and said it had no further comment at this stage.

The 13 signatories are Clean Shipping Coalition, Equal Routes, Green Global Future, MARBEM, Naturschutzbund Deutschland (NABU) e.V., Ocean Conservancy, One Planet Port Foundation, Pacific Environment, the Professional African Technical Network Advisory (PATNA) Initiative, Solutions for Our Climate (SFOC), Stand.earth, Transport & Environment (T&E) and Uma Gota no Oceano.