Another year of delay from the IMO means another year of excuses for those looking for them. And the vote against the fast track CSRD simplification creates more uncertainty and ambiguity. But the ports that act now – measuring, collaborating, cutting Scope 1 and 3, will own the decarbonisation advantage when the rest of the industry wakes up. Member states voted to adjourn adoption of the Net-Zero Framework (NZF), the long-awaited package coupling a global fuel-intensity standard with a pricing-and-reward mechanism, until October 2026. The framework’s earliest possible entry into force has slipped to March 2028.
Industry reaction was swift. The International Association of Ports and Harbours warned that postponement “opens the door for more national and regional measures.” At the same time, the International Chamber of Shipping voiced frustration that governments failed to provide the regulatory certainty investors need. “The postponement should not be interpreted as a cancellation,” advised the ESPO, expressing that the delay “…risks creating a standstill in global climate ambition and lowering the pace of progress in maritime decarbonisation”. In practice, the decision leaves ports facing another three years of policy ambiguity while climate expectations from customers, financiers and regulators and the planetary boundaries keep tightening.
The political backstory, geopolitical pressure, energy-state lobbying and deep splits between developed and developing countries matter less than the operational reality: Scope 1 and 3 emissions have not been adjourned. Cargo will still move, and the world will still measure its footprint. Ports that treat this pause as permission to wait risk falling behind those that act now.
1. Get your emissions truth in order
Treat 2025–2027 as the “patchwork window” and standardise emissions accounting now.
The EU ETS now prices maritime emissions, and FuelEU Maritime sets carbon-intensity limits. The UK, Singapore, and California are already taking their own distinct measures: the UK is targeting shipping in its ETS, Singapore is launching green shipping corridors, and California is enforcing at-berth emission regulations. Fragmentation isn’t coming; sadly, it’s already here.
For ports, this means the comfort of “waiting for clarity” is over. The patchwork window is 2025–2027, making now the moment to get your emissions truth straight before regulations multiply and come into force.
Every port is different and needs its own single, living dataset that connects port call operations, ships, terminals, trucks and rail in one view. Static inventories and spreadsheet debates won’t survive the next compliance cycle. What matters today is trusted, verifiable insight that drives decisions – not discussions.
At PortXchange, we see this shift every day, ports moving from reporting to reduction. Our Port Emissions Report provides a credible, regulation-ready baseline. EmissionInsider takes that baseline live, turning raw data into operational intelligence that shows exactly where to act next.
Together, they prove the pause in global policy isn’t the barrier, paralysis is.
2. Don’t wait for a carbon price to cut fuel burn: erase idle time
Every unnecessary hour a vessel spends waiting to berth is fuel wasted, time lost, and Scope 3 emissions increased; the most visible form of inefficiency in shipping. Ports can fix this now.
Just-in-time port calls shouldn’t be a pilot project; they should be the default operating mode. Align ships, terminals, pilots, and service providers around one shared, data-driven timeline. When everyone sees the same plan, buffers shrink, waiting drops, and emissions fall.
The results aren’t theoretical. In ports using synchronised scheduling, we’ve seen hours shaved off turnaround times, cutting fuel burn long before any carbon price kicks in. Real-time coordination remains the fastest and cheapest decarbonisation lever available to the shipping industry. No new fuels are required, just operational alignment and the courage to use them. See Use Cases
3. Keep building the infrastructure logic for zero and near-zero fuels
The delay does not change physics, the future still runs on cleaner energy. Use this time to plan, permit and pilot the infrastructure your port will need: shore-power capacity, alternative-fuel bunkering, and safe-handling procedures.
Map future fuel demand against your expected vessel mix and start de-risking investments through small-scale pilots. When the IMO finally activates its funding mechanisms, shovel-ready ports will capture the first wave of capital.
4. Create local price signals while the world debates global ones
If the global carbon-pricing mechanism is stalled, which now seems very likely, ports shouldn’t sit back. Now is the moment to get ahead. A carbon price isn’t the only way to drive behaviour; smart incentives built on credible data can move faster than regulation.
Begin sending clear market signals from within your harbour walls. Offer green-dues discounts for vessels that use cleaner fuels or plug into shore power. Give priority berthing or faster turnaround to operators who share data and arrive Just-in-Time. Publish transparent emissions ratings for port calls so efficiency becomes visible and valuable.
These aren’t token gestures. They align economic outcomes with environmental ones and reward those already taking action. When a global carbon price eventually arrives, the ports that have been testing and refining their own incentives will be ready to scale them, while others scramble to catch up.
5. Expect more rules, not fewer
Global hesitation doesn’t mean less regulation; it means more of it, arriving from every direction. The EU ETS already covers shipping, requiring commercial vessels above 5,000 GT to buy and surrender emission allowances from 2024. The UK is extending its own scheme and has set clear interim targets for domestic shipping 30 per cent by 2030 and 80 per cent by 2040.
Across Asia, Singapore, Japan, and South Korea are advancing low-carbon fuel mandates, lifecycle reporting frameworks, and green-corridor initiatives such as the Rotterdam–Singapore route, which industry leaders describe as “first, valuable steps towards the decarbonisation of international shipping”. Meanwhile, U.S. climate policy remains divided; recent Congressional actions rolling back EPA waivers for California’s clean-air rules highlight how uncertain the federal path has become.
This is what policy fragmentation looks like in real time. No port operates in isolation, when one link in a trade route tightens standards, everyone upstream and downstream feels it. Compliance pressure moves with the vessels that call, not with national borders.
For ports, this means compliance will no longer be a single deadline; it will be a constant condition.
Build a regulatory radar now. Track what’s coming, translate it quickly into operational requirements, and make sure terminals, agents and service providers are aligned before vessels arrive. The goal isn’t to chase rules; it’s to stay far enough ahead that new regulations simply confirm what you’re already doing.
Anticipation beats compliance panic every time.
6. Take action now, don’t wait for the final IMO design
The IMO may be taking another year to agree on its Net-Zero Framework, but that doesn’t mean ports should wait; now is the time to act.
While the committees debate fuel certification, lifecycle analysis and the mechanics of the Net-Zero Fund, ports can be turning those ideas into practice on the ground: testing verification methods, refining emissions reporting, expanding shore power and alternative-fuel capacity and building the partnerships that make real decarbonisation work.
If ports treat 2026 as another holding pattern, they’ll fall behind those using it to prepare. The IMO will eventually finalise its framework, but by then, proactive ports will have proved what works, setting the benchmark for everyone else.
The question isn’t when regulation will arrive, but who will be ready when it does.
Belfast Harbour sets the example for data-led decarbonisation
Customer Case Study
Belfast Harbour is a clear example of what a port can achieve when it stops waiting for perfect conditions and starts acting on credible insight. While the world debates the Net-Zero Framework, Belfast has spent the past two years building a complete picture of its emissions, extending beyond its own operations to include in-port vessel activity; the largest and hardest-to-control share of any port’s footprint.
In 2024, Belfast quantified 99,189 tCO₂e from ocean-going vessels operating within its limits, covering the Victoria Channel up to the harbour entrance. These Scope 3 emissions account for more than 95 percent of the port’s total climate impact. The analysis used AIS vessel tracking, engine and fuel profiles, and activity-based emission factors aligned with IMO GHG frameworks and validated by TNO, the Dutch research institute.
Using the Port Emissions Report, Belfast turned complex data into a clear, decision-ready baseline, the first step toward real change. That visibility now guides tangible actions: from shore-power planning to collaboration with shipping lines on low-carbon fuels.
The key lesson from this is simple: Belfast shows what’s possible when a port owns its data, coordinates better, and acts decisively. It’s leadership by example – grounded, measurable and already delivering results.
Ports hold the power to act; now they need to use it
The IMO’s pause extends uncertainty, but it also gives ports a window to lead. 2026 isn’t downtime — it’s decision time.
Use it to tighten measurement, cut idle time and build the infrastructure for cleaner fuels. Turn emissions data into strategy, not spreadsheets. Collaborate across the supply chain and prove that decarbonisation isn’t waiting for regulation; it’s driven by operational decisions made today.
When the global framework finally lands, the ports already taking action won’t be scrambling to comply. They’ll be part of those defining the new standard.
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