Shipping group submits plan to UN for global carbon tax

A Shipping group has submitted plans to the United Nations (UN) for a global carbon tax, Bloomberg reported.

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) submitted its plan to the International Maritime Organization, the UN’s shipping program, for a charge on carbon dioxide emissions 

The plan called the “Climate Fund” will close the price gap between zero-carbon and conventional fuels and will also be used to deploy bunkering infrastructure to help supply fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia, according to Bloomberg. 

“ICS believes that a mandatory global levy-based MBM is strongly preferable over any unilateral, regional application of MBMs to international shipping, such as that proposed by the European Commission which wishes to extend the EU Emissions Trading System to international shipping,” the group said in a statement. 

The group also said that the carbon levy will help with the creation of a market that zero-emission shipping is viable, Blomberg reported. 

This comes as the vast majority of shipping relies on marine fuels from oil, with the proposed levy expected to link with CO2 emissions and mandatory contributions from ships that exceed 5,000 gross tonnages, Blomberg noted.