Pacific nations gear up for a fight over shipping emissions at critical UN meeting

Pacific nations are preparing for a pivotal week of negotiations in London on how to cut planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions in the global shipping industry.

Countries will gather later this month to lay out specific plans to slash shipping emissions by at least 40% by 2030 and reach net-zero “by or around” 2050.

The International Maritime Organization, or IMO, the U.N. body that oversees global shipping, set the target in July last year, but deciding on exactly how to get there will be fiercely debated at the latest round of talks known as MEPC 82.

The 6PAC+ Alliance, led by Pacific Island nations with the backing of some Caribbean states, is arguing for a mandatory levy on all ships starting at US$150 per tonne of emissions.

The bloc says it is the best method for a fair transition from fossil fuels for all countries, while ensuring that small island developing states are adequately compensated for climate impacts that disproportionately affect them.

“The revenues are to help transition the sector but also to help communities that continue to face the impacts of climate change build their resilience and through adaptation and mitigation,” Albon Ishoda, the Marshall Islands special envoy for maritime decarbonization, said at a webinar on Wednesday night. 

Ralph Regenvanu, Vanuatu’s special envoy for climate change and the environment, said Pacific Island nations would go into the talks knowing the science was on their side. 

“We have to be there lobbying for the highest ambition because we cannot afford not to be there. Our nations and our people are at stake and we are fighting for that,” he said at the event organized by the Micronesian Center for Sustainable Transport. 

Shipping, which carries more than 80% of world trade, accounts for about 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions –  a level comparable to that of major industrial nations.

Under the 6PAC+ submission to the IMO, the levy would be paired with a simple global fuel standard, limiting the amount of emissions from marine fuels with increasing stringency over time. Ships that are non-compliant will pay a penalty, while those that overperform will be rewarded with limited subsidies.

Most revenues raised by the levy would be spent on climate action in low-income and small island states.

‘Beacon of hope’

The IMO, which takes decisions by consensus, is responsible for reducing emissions in the shipping industry, rather than individual countries, because it was not covered in the Paris climate agreement. 

While most nations support some version of a fuel standard, agreeing on economic measures to incentivize decarbonization are far more contentious. 

Countries such as China, Russia and several from Latin America say an emissions levy will act as a handbrake on trade and damage economic growth.

The BRICS group of major emerging economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – plus Norway are advocating for a more complex market-based trading scheme, where ships that comply with a fuel standard will be provided with credits that can be bought and sold.

Australia – one of the world’s largest exporters of coal – New Zealand and the Cook Islands, which has a fast growing ship registry, have also pushed back against a levy.

Regenvanu said it was frustrating that the 6PAC+ proposal had not received full support from across the region.

“With Australia it's not surprising, they generally don't align with the Pacific states on climate change ambition. New Zealand recently with the new government is tending not to align that much anymore,” he said, adding more discussions were needed with the Cook Islands.

Research, including modeling commissioned by the IMO, shows decarbonizing the shipping sector will have a cost for all countries, but without a fair policy in place, the negative economic impact will be felt most keenly by lower income nations and small island states.

Pacific nations, which have some of the largest maritime territories in the world, are heavily reliant on fossil-fuel powered shipping to sustain their import-dependent economies. Some like the Marshall Islands draw huge revenues from their shipping registries. 

However, faced with increasing vulnerability to rising sea levels and extreme weather events, they have emerged as the leading voice on climate action within the IMO over the past decade.

Ishoda said Pacific nations lacked the financial resources of larger countries to lobby for support, but they would bring a human face to negotiations.

“We need to continue to be the beacon of hope,” he said. “We have to understand that we bring the moral argument to a space where everything is abstract.”

BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news organization.