A picture used only for a representative purpose. | Photo Credit: PTI
India and 62 other countries voted for the world’s first global carbon tax in the world deposited by the UN.
The decision, adopted at the headquarters of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in London on Friday (April 11, 2025) after a week of intensive negotiations, aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from ships and promote cleaner technologies.
For the first time, a global carbon tax was imposed on the whole industry. Since 2028, ships will have to either move to lower emissions or pay the pollution fee they generate.
The tax could generate up to $ 40 billion by 2030.
Although the agreement is considered a breakthrough for international climate policy, it also caused criticism for not addressing the needs of climate financing in developing countries.
All revenues obtained from carbon tax will be bounded for decarbonization of the naval sector and will not be assigned to a wider effort to climate financing, such as Earth’s help adapt to climate change or recovery from its impact.
Carbon prices are expected to reduce carbon prices by only 10%by 2030, which is at least 20%from IMO’s own goal.
The agreement was supported by 63 countries, including India, China and Brazil, but against oil nations such as Saudi Arabia, Sae, Russia and Venezuela. The US delegation did not participate in negotiations and was missing during the vote.
A group of more than 60 countries, mostly from the Pacific, Caribbean, Africa and Central America, sought to share the income to be focused on wider climate financing.
These countries, many of which are very vulnerable to climate change, expressed disappointment in the final result.
Tuvalu, talking on the name of the Nations Pacific Island, criticized the lack of transparency in negotiations and said that the current design does not support a real shift to cleaner fuels.
Minister Vanuatu for Ralph Regenvan’s climate change that countries such as Saudi Arabia, USA and other fossil fuel manufacturers “blocked progress at every step” and weakened proposals that could balance the transport sector with a 1.5 degree of Celsius temperature limit.
Under the mechanism, ships will be charged on the basis of their emissions intensity.
For example, vessels using conventional fuel in 2028 would pay $ 380 per tonne for the most polluting part of their emissions and $ 100 per tonne for other emissions that exceed defined thresholds.
This price system will be applied in the stages and is designed to gradually penalize the use of fossil fuels, including liquefied natural gas.
Although the basic framework, key technical data has been agreed, including how income will be used and distributed, it must still be completed. This policy is expected to be formally adopted in October 2025.
Environmental groups and negotiators from smaller countries have said that they will continue to promote a more ambitious and fairer result that includes support for those who are most affected by the climate crisis.
Laurence Tubiana, CEO of the European Climate Foundation and one of the key architects of the Paris agreement, said that IMO decision to introduce the global carbon prices for transport is a positive step because it acknowledges that polluters have to pay damage caused by climate.
However, the agreement called the insufficient agreement, especially because it does not include the correct shipping fee. “It was a missed opportunity,” she said, adding that there is a strong public support for taxation of pollutants and super rich worldwide.
Published – April 12, 2025 17:57
