TRUMP VISITS UN IMO TO DISRUPT CRUCIAL NEGOTIATIONS
04.05.2026
⬆️ Trump, his special climate advisor Scrubby the Sponge, his security detail and storekeeper greet delegates at 84th Marine Environment Protection Committee (MPEC) meeting at the UN International Maritime Organisation (IMO). Inside US delegates disrupt proceedings with help from their Russian, Greek and Saudi friends. Photo by Guy Reece.
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On Monday 27 April ‘The Gas Bros‘ greeted delegates at the 84th UN IMO MEPC meeting in London. A meeting where IMO delegates and Member States will discuss shipping pollution in the shadow of Netanyahu’s and Donald Trump’s middle east war, while inside US delegates were continuing with their plans to disrupt shipping pollution regulations, plans supported by Greece, Russia and Saudi Arabia, plans which include bullying smaller Member Nations with tariffs.
Donald Trump is clearly bored of peace, especially when war is lining the pockets of the greedy oil and gas industry. Shipping tankers are already heading to the Texas and Louisiana coasts to fill up on oil, and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is soaring in demand with plans for more huge plants destroying pristine marine environments in the ‘Coral Triangle’ et Argentina.
Le sort de l'océan dépend de nous tous.
Nos interventions dépendent de votre soutien.
Trump is truly a GAS BRO. He absolutely loves it – especially when it stuffs billions of dollars into his fat wallet.
That’s why we’ve made him a special space on social media where he can express his adoration. It’s called Gas Bros and you can see and follow it here. It’s a diary of Trump’s latest visit to London with his special climate advisor, Scrubby the Sponge. Together they visited lots of tourist hotpots all over London to publicise their love of gas, even though they ‘slip’ deadly methane wherever they appear – just like LNG does when and wherever it’s used or extracted.
⬆️ Alien? Nope.
Scrubby the Sponge represents the laissez faire approach the shipping, oil and gas industry has towards marine pollution. Their approach includes promoting (greenwashing) Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) as a green transition fuel when it is 33% more polluting than coal, and 80 times more climate warming in the short term than oil. Film by Peter Boyd.
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⬆️ Delegates from Member States and passersby film the GAS BROS and collect leaflets, stickers and T-shirts. We printed 10 limited edition T-shirts which were given away to competition winners. Photo by Guy Reece.
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Why should YOU be worried about what’s happening at the UN IMO?
The UN IMO is the only place where 176 Member States from all over the world meet to discuss shipping and marine environmental issues.
It is the only place where shipping regulations are decided.
It is important, very important.
And that’s why the shipping, oil and gas industries spend so much time, money and effort lobbying the IMO. Lobbying groups like SEA-LNG, BIMCO, World Shipping Council (WSC) and Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF) are there representing their members interests. They work in the background of the IMO to convince delegates from Member States that little or no regulation of shipping is necessary, and when it is it’s watered down to suit their members interests.
This lobbying means shipping is at a point where its pollution is rising at an alarming rate, a rate which will only increase with 1,000+ LNG vessels in operation or on order right now, locking in fossil fuel dependency for at least the next 30 years. And 40% of all cargo is gas and oil going round and round the planet.
⬆️ Scrubby the Sponge shares a joke about LNG with his boss, confirming there’s methane to their madness. Photo by Guy Reece.
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Lobbyists are even trying to convince the UN IMO that LNG is a green fuel – even when it clearly isn’t, it is 80 times more climate warming than oil, it is linked to health issues wherever it’s extracted or used and its extraction causes environmental devastation. Quite a list of negatives!
The UN IMO must act now to regulate shipping pollution, its Net Zero Framework needs to be strengthened. Shipping must decarbonise and ‘demethane’ in equal measure. LNG is not a viable transition fuel.
La rébellion de l'océan exige :
1. Methane emissions are considered and fully included under the IMO GHG reduction strategy to levy a carbon tax on shipping, weighted by fugitive methane’s excess climate forcing capacity.
2. The Member States of the IMO recognise LNG as a fossil fuel and stop being misled by the SEA LNG and other fossil lobbyists, locking them out of the UN IMO process.
3. The IMO to promote efficiency and the use of slow steaming, capacity reduction and les bateaux à voile et à propulsion électrique en encourageant l'adoption dans le secteur du transport maritime, en responsabilisant et en améliorant les compétences des travailleurs et en introduisant des itinéraires de transport maritime plus équitables.
⬆️ Trump and Scrubby pose on our red carpet as an IMO Member State delegate takes a photo. Photo by Guy Reece.
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