An important Maritime Industry Association on Monday endorsed plans for a global charge on carbon emissions from shipping to help finance the change of the sector towards climate-friendly fuels.
International Chamber of Shipping said it is proposing to the United Nations that all ships that are traded globally above a certain size must pay a set amount per metric ton of carbon dioxide emitted.
Environmental groups welcomed the proposal to the International Maritime Organization, a body of UN, but warned that not specify what carbon price would be backed by the Group, representing commercial operators and shipowners covering more than 80% of the world merchant fleet.
“We will know who are serious about real progress when they embrace a level of ambition consistent with what has already been proposed nations vulnerable to climate islands,” said Aoife O’Leary, director of global transportation at the Environmental Defense Fund.
It is estimated that the shipping industry represents almost 3% of emissions of greenhouse gases that lead to global warming and are projected to increase significantly in the coming decades.
The Marshall Islands and the Solomon Islands, two nations with large shipping fleets whose territories are seriously threatened by climate change, have suggested a carbon tax from $ 100 per ton.
“This proposal establishes how to create virtually a measure based on the market for the global shipping industry, to move rapidly towards an effective price,” said Guy Platten, Secretary General of the Chamber of Shipping International. “Instead of Guess purposes PR, we arrive at a number that will download the sector without discouraging the enormous proportions of the developing world in the way. “
The group said it was opposed to regional measures from the systematic part, as proposed by the European Union, and requested that the money generated by the tax into a climate fund that would subsidize cleaner alternatives like hydrogen until be competitive with conventional fuels.
