IN a bid to accelerate the shipping industry’s move towards a more sustainable future, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has put forward a proposal for a global levy on ship carbon emissions.

The global trade association for ship operators presented a submission to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the United Nation’s regulatory body on shipping, last Friday calling for an internationally accepted market-based measure to accelerate the uptake and deployment of zero-carbon fuels.

According to the proposal, the levy would be based on mandatory contributions by ships trading globally, exceeding 5,000 gross tonnage, for each tonne of CO2 emitted.

At current rates of production, zero-carbon fuels are not commercially available at the scale needed for the global fleet. The carbon levy is intended to expedite the creation of a market that makes zero-emission shipping viable.

The money collected would go into a climate fund that would be used to install bunkering infrastructure required in ports throughout the world to supply cleaner fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia, ensuring consistency in the industry’s green transition for both developed and developing economies.

The fund would calculate the climate contributions to be made by ships, collect the contributions, and give evidence they have been made.

There is growing pressure for the sector to become more environmentally friendly and to, overall, reduce its ecological footprint. With about 90 per cent of world trade transported by sea, global shipping accounts for nearly 3 per cent of the world’s CO2 emissions.

Secretary general of ICS, Guy Platten indicated, “There’s no question that improvements in technology can enable the transition to zero-emission shipping. However, huge leaps must still be taken if we’re to achieve the readiness levels needed for deployment at scale. This includes building the necessary infrastructure to support such as transition.”

He pointed out that the World Bank as well as other studies have concluded that the most appropriate, global market-based measure for reducing carbon emissions from shipping is a levy-based system.

“We need to be able to put zero-emission ships in the water by 2030 without challenging price and safety issues. If the IMO lends its backing to our proposal, then we may yet be able to change this and deploy technologies economically and equitably,” he argued.

Additionally, to minimise burden on the UN member states and ensure the rapid establishment of the carbon tax, the industry also indicated that the framework proposal would utilise the mechanism already proposed by governments for a separate US$5-billion research and development (R&D) fund.

The R&D fund, of a mandatory US$2 levy per tonne on marine fuel, would be used entirely to fund the research and development of alternative zero-carbon fuels and propulsion systems.

IMO is scheduled to approve the R&D fund at a meeting which is to be held in November immediately following the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties.