The push for a global levy on international shipping emissions won additional support from another dozen countries during talks in London this week, but it is still opposed by a group of large emerging economies including Brazil, China and Saudi Arabia. The negotiations made little concrete progress, leaving much work ahead of a crunch meeting in April, according to observers.

More than 60 countries – including European Union member states, the UK, Japan, Nigeria and Kenya – have now swung behind the proposal, championed by Pacific island nations, to tax pollution from ships to reduce the sector’s planet-warning emissions and generate revenue for climate action. New backers include Malawi, Mexico, Namibia, New Zealand, Senegal, Switzerland and Türkiye.

But a group of 12 countries such as Brazil, China, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and South Africa argue that a levy would hit developing nations the hardest and risk exacerbating food insecurity by increasing the cost of maritime trade.

Christiaan De Beukelaer, a senior lecturer at the University of Melbourne, noted that countries accounting for at least two-thirds of fossil fuel subsidies continue to stand in the way of a shipping levy. 

“This includes Brazil, who is touting to be a leader in hosting this year’s [COP30] climate summit, yet just joined OPEC+, a group of major oil-exporting nations. These fossil fuel incumbents should not be allowed to block urgent climate action in the shipping industry,” he said.

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Slow progress

A week of talks ended at the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) in London on Friday with little concrete progress on if and how a levy should be adopted, while all options to accelerate emissions cuts by incentivising energy efficiency and deploying cleaner fuels and energy sources such as wind power still on the table.

“English porridge and Caribbean coffee during the week-long IMO negotiation was good, but we are running out of time to get our act together,” Faig Abbasov, shipping director at NGO Transport & Environment, told Climate Home News. “The dirty ship hasn’t moved an inch yet.”

Experts at the UCL Energy Institute, however, gave a more favourable view, reporting that the talks saw further “tidying up” of options and draft language for a potential agreement, and expressing the view that the process is on track to make key decisions in April.

Annika Frosch, research fellow at the institute, noted that support for a levy continues to grow, now grouping two-thirds of signatories to a key maritime treaty to prevent pollution from ships in “a diverse coalition” with key vessel flag states, including African nations, Small Island Developing States (SIDS), and Least Developed Countries (LDCs). 

Plan for emissions controls by 2027

International shipping accounts for around 3% of global emissions. Countries have already agreed to cut shipping emissions by at least 20% from 2008 levels by 2030, at least 70% by 2040 and to reach net zero emissions around 2050.

Ambassador Albon Ishoda, the Marshall Islands’ special envoy for maritime decarbonisation, said that without a universal levy, the IMO’s climate targets would be meaningless. “This is the fastest, most effective, and lowest-cost way to ensure a just and equitable transition, where no one is left behind. Delays cost lives. The time for action is now,” he added.

The IMO wants to have carbon-cutting measures in place by 2027 – a timeline that would require countries to adopt new rules at key talks in October. The negotiations are set to resume in April, when an agreement is needed for countries to meet the October deadline.

The levy under discussion would force ship owners to pay for every tonne of greenhouse gases their vessels emit, making the use of more polluting fuels – like today’s oil-based bunker fuel – more expensive. Proponents argue this would incentivise the sector’s energy transition and provide the funding needed to ensure it is equitable and keeps costs as low as possible.

But in a submission to the IMO before this week’s talk