Leading shipping groups have proposed a global charge on ship carbon emissions to assist accelerate the industry’s efforts to become more environmentally friendly. With over 90% of global goods moved by sea, worldwide shipping contributes to about 3% of global CO2 emissions, and the industry is under increasing pressure to become cleaner.
For the first time, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and Intercargo suggested a charge based on required payments for each tonne of CO2 generated by ships trading internationally with a gross tonnage of more than 5,000 gross tonnes.
According to the idea, the money raised would go into a climate fund that would be used to build bunkering infrastructure at ports across the world to offer greener fuels like hydrogen and ammonia.
“What shipping needs is a genuinely worldwide market-based solution like this to close the price gap between zero-carbon fuels and conventional fuels,” said Guy Platten, ICS Secretary-General.
The request was presented to the International Maritime Organization, the UN’s shipping body, on Friday (IMO). The IMO will host an intercessional working group meeting in late October, ahead of the Marine Environment Protection Committee’s late November session, which will discuss topics such as carbon-reduction initiatives.
The European Commission suggested in July to include shipping in the bloc’s carbon market, aiming at an industry that has eluded the EU’s pollution levies for more than a decade.
Business Standard
