The U.S. government is threatening countries that adopt, in October, the maritime transport decarbonization plan approved in April at the headquarters of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in London. At that time, negotiators from 170 countries approved what was considered a historic agreement: for the first time, a sector of the global economy would tax global carbon emissions with the goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.
Between October 14 and 17, during an extraordinary session of the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee, the economic and technical measures will be adopted.
A three-paragraph statement released on Tuesday says that “the Trump administration unequivocally rejects this proposal before the IMO” and warns organization members “that we will seek your support against this action and will not hesitate to retaliate or pursue remedies for our citizens should this initiative fail.”
The statement was issued by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, and Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy. “President Trump has made it clear that the U.S. will not accept any international environmental agreement that unduly or unfairly burdens the U.S. or harms the interests of the American people,” the statement begins. “Whatever its stated goals, the proposed framework is effectively a global carbon tax on Americans, imposed by an unaccountable UN organization,” it continues.
In just a few sentences, the statement contains a series of false claims, starting with the title, which refers to the net-zero agreement as the “Global Carbon Tax.” It is not. The global tax was a proposal from island nations that was not included in the final agreement. What was achieved was a legally binding decision that establishes two tiers of reduction targets for all ocean-going vessels over 5,000 gross tons, which are responsible for 85% of the sector’s emissions.
The IMO had a mandate given to it by countries, including the U.S., to reach an agreement on decarbonizing a sector responsible for more than 90% of global trade and 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, the accusation that the organization is “unaccountable” is unfounded.
Another inconsistency is in the claim that “these fuel standards would conveniently benefit China.” China, on the other hand, is far from its markets and primarily transports its products by ship.
A curious claim is that this so-called “global carbon tax” will raise prices for American consumers, coming from a country that is currently increasing tariffs on the rest of the world.
Another absurdity is the claim that “the standards would also prevent the use of proven technologies that power global shipping fleets, including lower-emission options where the U.S. industry leads, such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) and biofuels.” This is untrue. There is nothing in the approved agreement that excludes either of these technologies.
Most countries support the agreement. In the case of a vote, the quorum required for the agreement to be approved is two-thirds of the member countries of Annex VI of Marpol (the convention for the prevention of pollution from ships), and among these two-thirds, at least 50% of the world fleet’s tonnage must be represented. Panama, Liberia, and the Marshall Islands together account for nearly half of that fleet.
Source: Valor Econômico
