“LONDON -- A United Nations-backed plan to decarbonize the shipping industry was put on ice Friday amid fierce opposition from the Trump administration.
Under the plan, shipowners would have to pay a fee for their carbon emissions in a bid to spur investment in low-carbon fuels and ships that run on them. Nations had been scheduled to vote on ratifying the plan this past week, but the ballot was postponed for a year after a lobbying campaign from the U.S.
"The United States will NOT stand for this Global Green New Scam Tax on Shipping, and will not adhere to it in any way, shape, or form," President Trump said in a social-media post Thursday.
The U.S. threatened countries that endorsed the International Maritime Organization's net-zero plan with retaliatory measures, including sanctions on officials, visa restrictions, port fees and blocking vessels from American ports.
The vote's postponement casts doubt on the future of what was shaping up to be the most ambitious emissions-cutting strategy agreed upon by an entire sector of the global economy.
The one-year postponement comes amid a broader pullback from policies aimed at slashing greenhouse-gas emissions. In the U.S., Trump has slashed Biden-era subsidies, and administration officials have sought to water down climate policies abroad as part of trade negotiations.
The plan to decarbonize the shipping industry had been in the works for years. National representatives at the IMO, a U.N. body, approved its outlines in April. More than 60 members, including European countries and leading exporters such as China and Brazil, were in favor of the proposals. Some 16 countries opposed, including Saudi Arabia and other fossil-fuel producers. The U.S. abstained.
To ratify the plan in a vote this past week, a two-thirds majority of voting countries was required. But with a four-day IMO gathering nearing a close Friday, member countries voted instead to push back the ratification.
Shipping accounts for roughly 3% of global carbon emissions, and the sector has a goal of reducing its emissions to zero by 2050. The IMO's proposal would require shipowners to use lower-carbon alternatives to conventional shipping fuel or pay a fee that ratchets up over time. The rules had been expected to take effect in 2027.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed the postponement Friday. "The United States prevented a massive UN tax hike on American consumers that would have funded progressive climate pet projects," Rubio in a post on X.
The aim of the IMO plan was to give shipowners an incentive to invest in new low-carbon fuels and vessels that can run on them. The system was expected to generate billions of dollars a year, according to analysis by University College London, which was to be used to subsidize low-carbon investments.
Many details of the system remained to be ironed out. Those include deciding who funds the development of greener fuels, terminal upgrades for refueling and financial help for developing countries to adopt the measures.
Shipping-services provider Clarksons estimates it could cost the industry more than $3 trillion for ships to switch to new forms of power.
Low-carbon fuels cost more than regular ship fuel, and demand won't emerge without policy interventions. Some would-be producers of alternative fuels -- particularly those derived from low-carbon hydrogen -- have been pinning their hopes on the IMO plan as demand for those alternatives has failed to take off.
The shipping industry has been divided on the net-zero plan. Some shipowners were in favor because it gave them clarity on what types of vessels to buy.
For other vessel owners, the plan's postponement is a reprieve. A group including Greece's Angelicoussis Group and GasLog, which operates liquefied-natural-gas carriers, last month demanded "fundamental amendments," criticizing what they called the plan's abrupt transition time frame.
Like the U.S., those vessel owners warned that the plan could push up consumer prices.
Some have questioned that argument.
Shipping costs generally come in somewhere between 1% or 5% of a product's price, and would only rise marginally because of the proposed regulation, according to Rico Luman, an economist focused on transport and logistics at ING, a Dutch bank.
Closing the IMO meeting, Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez called on countries to come to consensus on how to meet the 2050 net-zero goal.
"The reason why I ask you not to clap is because there are no winners and losers in this session," he said.” [1]
That is wrong. Angelicoussis wins.
1. World News: Trump Backlash Delays Green Shipping Plan --- U.N.-backed proposal for carbon-emissions fees was criticized by the administration. Ballard, Ed; Paris, Costas. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 18 Oct 2025: A6.
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