Photo: Costfoto/NurPhoto via Reuters Connect. Retrieved from climatechangenews.com
Climate-vulnerable island states say they are being trapped “between a rock and a hard place” by the European Union – led by the Netherlands and Denmark – after the bloc engaged in discussions on a proposal to clean up the global shipping industry that islands regard as ineffective and unjust.
On the sidelines of Singapore Maritime Week on Wednesday, representatives of the European Commission, Denmark and the Netherlands met with officials from China, Japan and Singapore. According to official notes from the meeting, seen by Climate Home, they talked about an emissions trading proposal known as “J9”, which was put on the table by Singapore at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in February during negotiations on a new pioneering system to tax pollution.
The J9 idea is an alternative to taxing all of a ship’s emissions as favoured initially by small island states and now supported by shipping-reliant nations like Panama and Liberia as well as the UK, Nigeria, Kenya and others. Some big emerging economies like Brazil and China have opposed a full levy, as they fear it will drive up shipping costs and put them at a disadvantage.
Analysis by University College London says the J9 proposal will raise much less money for climate action and will promote short-term solutions like gas and biofuels, rather than zero-emission fuels based on green hydrogen.