OECD UNIT PROPOSES CARBON TAX ON SHIPS' EMISSIONS

An arm of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said stronger action is needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from ships, and that a carbon tax on shipping would be a way to achieve it.

“This approach has the advantage of administrative simplicity. It would be easier to implement than any other market-based mechanism,” the OECD’s International Transport Forum said in a policy brief.

The 2009 Copenhagen Accord on climate change set out goals for reduced carbon dioxide emissions to limit global warming to 1.5 or 2 degrees celsius by 2100. Bringing the shipping industry into compliance with these goals would force companies to halve vessel emissions by 2050 and reduce them to zero by 2080.

The International Transport Forum said efforts to reduce shipping’s carbon emissions “would gain huge impetus” if the United Nations’  International Maritime Organization were directed to set strict emissions targets and create requirements that would include a carbon tax.

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