Countries want to tax ships for carbon emissions – 7/3/2023 – Environment

Crossing oceans without relying on fossil fuels is still far from the horizons of maritime transport, which is entirely dependent on oils such as diesel and bunker. Even so, the sector must present a decarbonization target by the end of the week.

This is the goal of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), whose environmental committee meets in London this Monday (3). With representatives of the 175 member countries of the UN specialized agency, the event should negotiate new climate goals for maritime transport until Friday (7).

Currently, the sector’s targets aim to halve the carbon emissions of ships by 2050. The objective is far below that recommended by the IPCC (the UN’s scientific panel on climate) and also the Paris Agreement on climate change, which in 2015 sealed the commitment between countries to maintain global warming between 1.5ºC and 2ºC — which means zero greenhouse gas emissions by the middle of the century.

The international community is pushing for the alignment of the IMO with the Paris Agreement, which would imply targets for halving the sector’s emissions by 2030, reaching zero around 2050.

According to the entity, the sector emits around 1 billion tons of greenhouse gases per year, which represents around 3% of global emissions.

Due to the concentration of global trade via maritime routes, the sector has also come to be seen as an economic leverage opportunity for climate finance: if it pays for the carbon it emits, the sector could generate a fund to finance climate adaptation and the recovery of disasters in the most climate-vulnerable countries.

The idea gained momentum during the New Financial Pact Summit, convened by French President Emmanuel Macron and concluded on the 23rd in Paris.

The proposal to tax the carbon emissions of maritime transport, which was already among the French ideas for reforming the global financial system, won two strong endorsements in the maritime sector: Greece (the country that appears as the largest owner of ships in the last year) and South Korea, which is among the largest manufacturers. Both countries signaled support for taxing the sector during the summit. The idea also has the support of the European Union and the group of 55 countries most vulnerable to the climate.

The maritime sector is responsible for transporting around 90% of goods in global trade, according to estimates by the OECD (Organization for Cooperation and Development), which also predicts that maritime cargo volumes could triple by 2050.

Last week, a working group prior to the IMO environmental negotiation brought together proposals from countries on emission reduction targets and also on taxation.

According to the proposal submitted by the European Union, an initial charge of US$ 100 per ton of carbon emitted would lead to an annual collection of US$ 80 billion, which could be distributed to funds linked to loss and damage and support to the climate transition in countries less developed and on small islands.

Brazil is against the charging of a carbon tax for the sector and has also resisted the increase in the ambition of the targets for the decarbonization of maritime transport, positioning itself alongside countries such as Saudi Arabia, China, India, South Africa, Argentina and Ecuador.

During the last week, when a working group put together a draft of the proposals that will be negotiated at the IMO, Brazil supported a proposal by China that changed the term “objective” for “indicative checkpoints”, which would reduce the strength of the commitment. Mention of the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C also left the draft.

According to observers of the negotiations heard by the SheetBrazil would have proposed a bargain: the country would defend more ambitious targets for the sector as long as the idea of ​​a carbon tax for maritime transport is abandoned.

The defenders of the tax, however, believe that it will encourage the achievement of more ambitious objectives for the sector.

“Measures such as carbon pricing will push the industry in the right direction, making zero-emission fuels more competitive,” defended UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a video shown at the opening of the IMO meeting this morning. Monday.

According to a study published by the consultancy CE Delft last Monday (26), a combination of three technical solutions would make it possible for maritime transport — today totally dependent on fossil fuels — to cut its carbon emissions between 36% and 47% by 2030 compared to 2008 levels.

The first strategy would be the use of new wind-assisted propulsion technologies, which increase the energy efficiency of ships. The second solution would be a reduction in speed, between 20 and 30%, for ships that emit less at lower speeds. Finally, the third technique would be the reduction of 5% to 10% of fossil fuels in the sector’s total matrix.

Because they take place in international waters and air, emissions from maritime transport and civil aviation are not included in the Paris Agreement targets, which assesses national emissions inventories. For this reason, the IMO is the forum for negotiating shipping emissions, just as the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) is also responsible for aviation climate commitments.

^{The journalist traveled at the invitation of the Global Strategic Communications Council (GSCC)}