Ahead the upcoming Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) in June, the Republic of Marshall Islands (RMI) and the Solomon Islands have submitted a proposal to IMO for the development of a $100 per tonne emissions levy to reduce GHG emissions from shipping.
This follows a submission of another proposal by governments to IMO to establish a $5 billion USD “IMO Maritime Research Fund”, using mandatory contributions from the world’s shipping companies for industry decarbonization.
[smlsubform prepend=”GET THE SAFETY4SEA IN YOUR INBOX!” showname=false emailtxt=”” emailholder=”Enter your email address” showsubmit=true submittxt=”Submit” jsthanks=false thankyou=”Thank you for subscribing to our mailing list”]
The proposal, which was confirmed by RMI Ambassador to Fiji, Albon Ishoda on Twitter Thursday, would establish a mandatory and universal GHG emissions levy by 2025, with an entry price of $100 per tonne of CO2 equivalent followed by “upward ratchets on a five-yearly review cycle”.
The move comes as current measures under consideration by the MEPC are inadequate to meet Paris Agreement goals for shipping, Mr. Ishoda commented.
In this context, except for acting as a clear signal of shipping’s comittment to decarbonization, the proposal could also help to make decarbonised shipping fuel and technologies cost competitive with business-as-usual (BAU) emission-based technology options, he explained.
Under the proposal, the majority of the funds raised could help climate vulnerable countries meet different climate change adaptation needs, as well as enabling the research and development of new technologies and fuels for IMO.
A global ruleset for market-based measures (MBMs), which can take different forms including a carbon levy, are currently seen as an attractive solution for shipping to support the use of low carbon fuels and to create a level playing field for the industry.
