China has criticized affluent countries for setting “unrealistic” goals with “significant” financial consequences and urged poorer nations to oppose a tax on shipping emissions and tougher targets for decarbonizing one of the world’s most polluting industries.
According to four persons present at IMO meetings, Beijing issued a “diplomatic note” to poor countries as they were ready for a crucial meeting at the UN’s International Maritime Organization (IMO) in July.
Days after France assembled 22 allies in support of a shipping emissions tax, China made its remarks.
“An overly ambitious emission reduction target will seriously impede the sustainable development of international shipping, significantly increase the cost of the supply chain, and adversely impede the recovery of the global economy,” China said in the letter.
“Developed countries are pressuring the IMO to achieve unattainable visions and levels of ambition,” it continued. They are promoting a flat (levy) that will substantially raise the price of marine transportation.
According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), China, the largest exporter in the world with a sizable state-owned shipping industry, has been making efforts to decarbonize this fuel-intensive industry, which transports up to 90% of all traded goods globally.
By the end of the next week, the IMO has promised to step up its effort to reduce yearly shipping emissions from their 2008 levels by 2050, which has long been criticized by environmental activists as being too modest.
Participants in the IMO discussions, however, claimed that China had assisted in bringing together nations in conversations held behind the doors after a sharp rift between developed and developing member states formed.
According to two persons familiar with the negotiations, Brazil, Argentina, and South Africa have also rejected a tax on shipping companies’ emissions because they believe it will raise the cost of exports for their significant commodities markets.
In a memo seen by the FT, China demanded that any money made from IMO regulations be spent “in-sector,” claiming that otherwise, “the climate change financing responsibility would be transferred from developed countries to… international shipping.”