UN’s Maritime Agency to Weigh Setting Price on Ship Emissions

The International Maritime Organization, the United Nations’ shipping agency, will next year consider how to set a price on greenhouse-gas emissions from ships that contribute to climate change. The London-based IMO’s environmental panel will give “priority consideration” on whether to set a global levy or establish an emissions-trading program, IMO Secretary-General Efthimios Mitropoulos said today in an interview in Durban, South Africa. The UN agency has been unable to agree on measures to curb emissions from ships for more than a decade. The European Union, which runs the world’s biggest carbon trading system, has said it may present its own proposal next year to limit the industry’s pollution if IMO doesn’t find a solution. Global maritime transport accounts for almost 3 percent of carbon-dioxide discharges, and emissions from ships are expected to increase from 150 percent to 250 percent by 2050, according a report by WWF and Oxfam published in September. Mitropoulos declined to comment on when a decision may be made or how much revenue may be raised from a tax or trading program. He stressed that any new rules for shipping emissions must apply to all vessels regardless of country.