“The European Union supports the ambitious global measures at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) level aimed at decarbonizing the maritime transport sector and ensuring a level playing field globally. The EU considers the Net-Zero Framework a significant milestone and calls for its adoption by the IMO. After adoption, the European Commission will review the relevant EU legislation currently in force”.
With this statement, ahead of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) meeting of the IMO scheduled for this week (from 14 to 17 October), Europe in one stroke responded to the pressure (in the opposite direction of the United States) and made it known that it is ready to reconsider the current taxes applied at the continental level to Maritime Transport (ETS and Fuel EU). In recent months, in Italy and beyond, shipowners’ associations have repeatedly asked that ships employed on routes to and from European ports should not be subject to double taxation (continental and global).
The Net-Zero Framework program, the result of a preliminary agreement reached in April to impose a cost for emissions on the global maritime sector, is supported not only by the EU but also by Great Britain, China, and Japan, while it is strongly opposed by the United States, which had withdrawn from the talks (as a sign of dissent) and which again in recent days has threatened “reciprocal measures” (port taxes and visa restrictions) against countries in favor of introducing any tariff applied to US ships.
“The United States will move to impose these remedies on nations that sponsor this neocolonial export of global climate regulations driven by Europe,” stated the US Department of State in an October 11 declaration. hence the Brussels declaration the following day.
The regulation on fuel emissions for maritime use proposed by the IMO would impose a tax on ships with a tonnage exceeding 5,000 tonnes that exceed an emissions threshold and would reward vessels that consume cleaner fuels. Ships will be able to purchase offset units or will pay a penalty if they emit more than the threshold. Ships that emit less than a separate threshold will receive excess units.
According to the draft regulation, the proceeds from the measure would be collected by an IMO Net-Zero Fund which will be established by the Secretariat of the International Maritime Organization and whose distribution of proceeds has yet to be decided. Shipowners ask that it be used to finance the ecological transition of the fleet by supporting ship retrofits, new builds, or offsetting the higher cost of clean fuels.
According to research by University College London, the IMO fuel standard could generate between 11 and 12 billion dollars per year between 2028 (the year the new regulation enters into force) and 2030, as most ships would likely pay the consequences in the first years of implementation.
