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France is rallying support for a global carbon tax on the shipping industry ahead of a summit hosted by PresidentEmmanuel Macron later this month.
Macron is understood to be searching for allies to issue a joint demand on members of the International Maritime Organisation to agree on such a charge at the organisation’s upcoming summit in July.
France is attempting to assemble a coalition of dozens of nations to endorse the proposal and has received backing from Japan andDenmark among others.
The IMO earlier set a target for shipping to cut yearly greenhouse gas emissions in half between 2008 and 2050, while the EU decided that starting next year, all ships traveling between the EU and other nations will have to purchase emissions permits. However, an agreement on a carbon levy at the IMO convention next month would put a financial cost on global shipping emissions.
A consortium of Pacific nations led by the Marshall Islands is proposing a charge that begins at $100 per tonne and gradually increases to make dirty fuels roughly as expensive as cleaner fuels. In the medium run, such a tax could raise up to $100bn per year, albeit the amount would gradually reduce if the levy was successful in convincing shippers to transition away from fossil fuels.
If the idea Macron has been entertaining for years is successful, the call would be a significant victory to come from Macron’s summit for a new global financing deal, a two-day event on climate finance and global financial reforms that the French president is co-hosting with the leader of Barbados on June 22-23.
