In a leaked document seen by the Guardian, Panama has co-sponsored a proposal to the International Maritime Organization that would in effect cancel the carbon levy on shipping, and undermine attempts to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Panama’s leaders are thought to feel particularly vulnerable as one of the key nation-states in the maritime world. Home to a canal used by about 5% of global shipping every year, the country has been touted by Donald Trump as a possible target for annexation, along with Canada and Greenland.
The Guardian says that Panama is smaller and more vulnerable than the other two and its government is said to have been alarmed by the U.S. president’s decision to order an armed intervention in Venezuela in early January.
Panama’s latest proposals are contained in a paper submitted to the IMO and seen by the Guardian. Dated February 20, the measures are presented by Liberia and co-sponsored by Panama and Argentina, which also operates key ports.
Many countries, including the U.K., continue to back the carbon levy, which would be the first time ships were charged for their emissions and, despite being a small tax, could raise billions of dollars a year for climate action.
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In April 2025, the United Nations member states approved the initial draft of the IMO’s policy Net-Zero Framework (NZF), years in the making, which would impose a global shipping emissions tax from 2028 in order to fund cleaner maritime technologies and help developing nations transition to low-carbon shipping. The NZF also set goals to cut annual carbon emissions from international shipping by at least 20% by 2030, and 70% by 2040, and then finally reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
But, on October 17, 2025, all members of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) voted to postpone a vote on passing the NZF until late 2026. The pullback came a day after President Donald Trump criticized the plan as a “global green scam tax on shipping,” and threatened to impose port levies and sanctions against any nations that supported it.
