COUNTRIES should focus on the substance of the climate change debate to avoid a repeat of October’s MEPC setback, according to the International Maritime Organization secretary-general.

“There’s too much emphasis on procedures right now,” Arsenio Dominguez said in an interview.

“The procedures are clear, both in the rules and in the articles of the [Marpol] Convention.”

Dominguez is urging delegates and industry bodies to make further progress on the Net-Zero Framework, after states voted in October to delay the vote on formally adopting the carbon price for a year.

A majority of states voted to approve the plan in April. But hopes of a breakthrough later faded amid strident opposition from big petrostates and the US, which threatened tariffs on anyone voting for the “outrageous climate scam”.

In October, Dominguez urged states to be kind to each other and come back ready to negotiate in 2026.

Since then, his focus has been on analysing the arguments for and against, answering questions and addressing concerns with the NZF.

Such concerns — such as how to raise and spend tax proceeds, and what technologies count as green — have long been known. The IMO continues to work on finding diplomatic compromise on the big issues between sessions.

“And that’s what I want everybody to focus on: on the substance,” Dominguez said.

“And then we go back to the committee and take the necessary steps to actually move forward towards the next session.”

Opponents of the NZF raised repeated procedural objections at the last MEPC, including whether it fell within the legal scope of Marpol.

The US took issue with the way IMO amendments enter into force, a system untouched for more than 50 years.

Dominguez said the greenhouse gas topic was still on the agenda at the upcoming intersessional and MEPC84 meetings in April. These would give a sign of what came next for the NZF.

The fact states postponed the scheme instead of rejecting it outright was a sign they were still willing to negotiate, Dominguez added. And any Marpol amendment could be changed until it was formally adopted.

Dominguez has been steadfast in his optimism that the IMO will come through on the NZF. If it fails, will he step down as secretary-general?

“I think you should ask the member states that,” he said.

Dominguez was elected not to preside over one topic, but everything the IMO does. At the last assembly, the organisation completed more than 60 of the 160 outputs in its most recent two-year programme, most of which don’t make the headlines.

The IMO is finalising work on safety for passengerships, and new rules on biofouling and ballast water.

“I look at IMO and [it’s] more than just GHG. It’s everything that we do here: more than 50 conventions, 300-plus staff members that I have to manage, the image, the visibility of the organisation, and the relationships with the UN and other entities.”

The media covers casualties and oil spills, but not the casualties averted through the IMO’s years of work improving safety standards, Dominguez added.

Much of the attention has lately been on the US’ capture of Nicolás Maduro and seizure of shadow tankers* serving Venezuela.

The IMO doesn’t deal with sanctions unless they are adopted by the UN Security Council (at which Russia wields a veto).

Where they concern Dominguez is the associated substandard shipping, with its risks to seafarer safety, security and the environment.

But the Legal Committee (LEG) started looking into the problem last year, and its report will be presented in April.

States are obliged to uphold rules on things such as ship-to-ship transfers, maintaining AIS and LRIT communications, insurance and more. The IMO wants to help flag under-resourced flag administrations carry out the necessary oversight.

The LEG is mulling developing best practices on ship registration for member states (though not the flagging business itself), though this work will not be finished soon.

In July, the IMO will resume talks on how it can be a repository of port state control data, to help the fight against fraudulent flags.

“From my side, it’s looking [for] proactive measures within the remit of IMO — operationally, technically — that we can use to further assist everyone in meeting the standards,” Dominguez said.

“We need to be creative.”

Dominguez remains optimistic the IMO can prevail, since being negative is “just too easy”.

“There’s too much negativity in the world for me to be one of those as well. It’s just not in my nature.”