10 September 2021

SHIPPING INDUSTRY PROPOSES GLOBAL LEVY ON CO2

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and Intercargo submitted a proposal to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to implement a global levy on carbon emissions from ships to help the shipping industry to reduce emissions. This market-based measure (MBM) would be based on mandatory contributions for each tonne of CO2 emitted from ships exceeding 5,000 gross tonnes and trading globally. The proposal is a response to the proposal of the European Commission to extend the EU ETS to maritime transport.

According to the proposal, the money collected would go into an IMO climate fund to accelerate the development of new fuels and infrastructure, such as deploying bunkering infrastructure in ports around the world to supply cleaner fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia. The new carbon levy proposal comes on top of an existing proposal by the industry to the IMO for a $2 per tonne bunker fuel levy to create a $5 billion R&D fund for shipping decarbonisation. Discussions on the creation of an International Maritime Research Board through the fund were effectively parked at last IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 76) meeting in June.

The IMO will hold an intersessional working group meeting scheduled for late October, ahead of a late-November session of the MEPC, to address issues including carbon-reduction efforts.

Source: Euractiv, Seatrade Maritime News