Shipping emissions tax sets sail

The shipping industry took a step toward instituting a global emissions tax on marine fuels in late April at a meeting of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). 

The decision comes on the heels of a high-profile California lawsuit in which the state and several activist groups sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the right to prohibit ships from burning a heavily polluting byproduct of the petroleum and diesel refining processes known as “bunker fuel” in or around its ports.

EPA ruled against California’s proposed ban, but the case brought shipping emissions, which had gone largely unnoticed, into the public eye.

The European Commission has also hinted at including the shipping industry in its cap-and-trade scheme. Hans Meijer, the European Commission’s policy officer for clean air and transport, told press in late 2007 that the Commission would move ahead with more aggressive measures if the IMO did not move quickly enough to address maritime CO2 emissions.