Summarised by Centrist
The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) is due to vote this week on a “net-zero framework” (NZF) that would introduce a worldwide levy on greenhouse gas emissions from large ships.
It would be the first global tax ever imposed by a UN body.
The US called the plan an “unsanctioned global tax regime” that would raise prices for consumers and advantage China.
Britain, the EU, Brazil and China support the measure, while the US and Gulf states are leading opposition, arguing it amounts to a “European-led neocolonial export of global climate regulations.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration “will not tolerate any action that increases costs for our citizens, energy providers, shipping companies and their customers or tourists.”
He warned that the US “will not hesitate to protect the American people and their economic interests,” including through “commercial penalties … on ships flagged under nations in favour of the NZF.”
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called the plan “more offensive than the taxes imposed by Great Britain against the American colonies,” saying it echoed the same lack of representation that sparked the American Revolution.
China, the world’s largest shipbuilder, is expected to gain as demand rises for new low-emission vessels.
The IMO will need a two-thirds majority of its 176 member states to approve the measure.
