Six IMO members have come under fire for protecting the organisation's alleged secrecy.

Transparency International has criticised the US, UK, Panama, UAE, Cook Islands and Marshall Islands for opposing efforts to open it up to public scrutiny.

The countries are concerned that increasing access to information could lead to outside influence, the charity claimed.

Rueben Lifuka, the vice-chair of Transparency International, said: “Unfortunately the IMO is far too susceptible to disproportionate influence from private interests and certain member states, meaning that there could be obstacles to meeting the targets for emissions reduction set earlier this year.

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