A Trump administration official told international negotiators this week that American efforts to derail a global initiative to lower shipping industry climate pollution are gaining traction.
Rear Adm. Wayne Arguin, a career Coast Guard official who leads the American delegation to the U.N. International Maritime Organization, suggested that the so-called Net-Zero Framework would fail to be adopted if it’s brought up for a future vote. He was speaking at a technical meeting of the IMO ahead of broader talks next week in London.
“We can say at this point there is a clear, strong and sizable bloc of countries opposed to the NZF and no prospect of achieving consensus around that proposal,” Arguin told the group, according to a meeting participant who was granted anonymity to describe the closed-door session.
His comments came ahead of the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee meeting starting Monday. It’s the panel’s first session since the U.S. successfully delayed a vote on the net-zero framework for one year in October.
