Government negotiators at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) are likely to agree next week to put a price on at least some shipping emissions, with most of the money going to subsidise clean fuels and help ports and workers adjust to their use, sources close to the talks told Climate Home.
The negotiations in London run until April 11 – and nothing has yet been finally agreed. But governments are discussing the details of a proposal put forward by the talks’ Norwegian chair Sveinung Oftedal in an attempt to reach a compromise on the first such system for a global sector.
The proposal says that revenues raised for the new IMO Net Zero Fund should be spent within the shipping sector and its fuel supply chain.
It specifies that the money should be allocated to green fuels and the infrastructure and workers needed to transition to them, to protecting the maritime industry from climate change, and to addressing negative impacts from a carbon price on shipping emissions, such as food inflation caused by rising shipping costs.
A source with knowledge of the IMO discussions told Climate Home that “the predominant view is that how the revenue is spent has to be somehow connected to the sector”.
Climate campaigners – and some countries, particularly small island and African nations – had hoped that at least some of the revenue would be spent on climate action in developing countries outside the shipping sector, on things like solar panels, drought-resistant seeds and rebuilding roads destroyed by floods.
Last week, Kenyan climate envoy Ali Mohamed wrote in a piece for Climate Home that the money raised should “transcend the maritime sector” and support “broader climate projects” including in landlocked states.
But some other developing countries do not want this money – much of which will be paid by shipowners in their nations – to replace the climate finance that rich governments are supposed to provide under the UN climate convention.
Friederike Roder, director of the secretariat for the Global Solidarity Levies Task Force, a multi-government initiative looking into international taxes to support climate and development, told Climate Home, “we need a solidarity contribution” from shipping.
“Negotiations are still under way,” she said, adding that the IMO “still has the possibility to deliver a historic agreement which doesn’t leave anyone behind”.
Size of fund up for debate
While negotiators agree that international shipping emissions should be priced, they remain sharply divided on how much of a ship’s greenhouse gas pollution should be covered and how high the price should be. This will determine how much money goes into the IMO Net Zero Fund.
Shipowners will have to pay if they don’t reduce emissions by a certain percentage by set years.
The chair’s proposal is to use the targets agreed for global shipping in 2023 – a 20% reduction in emissions by 2030 and 70% by 2040.
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If a ship does not meet these targets, it will have to buy a permit known as a “remedial unit” from the IMO’s Net Zero Fund. This is likely to be several hundreds of dollars per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emitted above the agreed level.
There is likely to be another, more ambitious stretch target. This could be the emissions goals that governments agreed to “strive” for in 2023 – 30% by 2030 and 80% by 2040.
The penalty for not meeting these stretch goals will be much less than not meeting the basic goals. Fees of between $50 and $150 per tonne of CO2e have been discussed.
Price on all emissions?
The Marshall Islands wants these stretch goals to be 100%, starting as soon as the rules come into place in 2028 so that all emissions would be subject to a charge from that year. The Pacific nation’s envoy for maritime decarbonisation Albon Ishoda said a tax on all shipping emissions “remains on the table – and that’s essential”.
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Some fossil fuel-reliant nations and shipping-dependent emergent economies like Brazil, China and Saudi Arabia do not support such a levy, and last week island nations expressed fears that the EU was backing away from the idea.
“A growing bloc of countries, particularly from Africa, the Caribbean, Central America, and the Pacific, is united in its focus on delivering ambition and equity for the Global South,” Ishoda added. “But when it comes to equity, our voices continue to be ignored. I have real concerns that the package being shaped may not be one that truly protects the most vulnerable or ensures no one is left behind.”
The post Hopes fade for climate cash from carbon price on shipping appeared first on Climate Home News.
A new storm recovery charge could soon hit Georgia Power customers’ bills, as climate change drives more destructive weather across the state.
Hurricane Helene may be long over, but its costs are poised to land on Georgians’ electricity bills. After the storm killed 37 people in Georgia and caused billions in damage in September 2024, Georgia Power is seeking permission from state regulators to pass recovery costs on to customers.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill says she supports both AI and lowering her constituents’ bills.
With New Jersey’s cost-of-living “crisis” at the center of Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s agenda, her administration has inherited a program that approved a $250 million tax break for an artificial intelligence data center.
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Gabrielle Dreyfus is chief scientist at the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development, Thomas Röckmann is a professor of atmospheric physics and chemistry at Utrecht University, and Lena Höglund Isaksson is a senior research scholar at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis.
This March scientists and policy makers will gather near the site in Italy where methane was first identified 250 years ago to share the latest science on methane and the policy and technology steps needed to rapidly cut methane emissions. The timing is apt.
As new tools transform our understanding of methane emissions and their sources, the evidence they reveal points to a single conclusion: Human-caused methane emissions are still rising, and global action remains far too slow.
This is the central finding of the latest Global Methane Status Report. Four years into the Global Methane Pledge, which aims for a 30% cut in global emissions by 2030, the good news is that the pledge has increased mitigation ambition under national plans, which, if fully implemented, could result in the largest and most sustained decline in methane emissions since the Industrial Revolution.
The bad news is this is still short of the 30% target. The decisive question is whether governments will move quickly enough to turn that bend into the steep decline required to pump the brake on global warming.
What the data really show
Assessing progress requires comparing three benchmarks: the level of emissions today relative to 2020, the trajectory projected in 2021 before methane received significant policy focus, and the level required by 2030 to meet the pledge.
The latest data show that global methane emissions in 2025 are higher than in 2020 but not as high as previously expected. In 2021, emissions were projected to rise by about 9% between 2020 and 2030. Updated analysis places that increase closer to 5%. This change is driven by factors such as slower than expected growth in unconventional gas production between 2020 and 2024 and lower than expected waste emissions in several regions.
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This updated trajectory still does not deliver the reductions required, but it does indicate that the curve is beginning to bend. More importantly, the commitments already outlined in countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions and Methane Action Plans would, if fully implemented, produce an 8% reduction in global methane emissions between 2020 and 2030. This would turn the current increase into a sustained decline. While still insufficient to reach the Global Methane Pledge target of a 30% cut, it would represent historical progress.
Solutions are known and ready
Scientific assessments consistently show that the technical potential to meet the pledge exists. The gap lies not in technology, but in implementation.
The energy sector accounts for approximately 70% of total technical methane reduction potential between 2020 and 2030. Proven measures include recovering associated petroleum gas in oil production, regular leak detection and repair across oil and gas supply chains, and installing ventilation air oxidation technologies in underground coal mines. Many of these options are low cost or profitable. Yet current commitments would achieve only one third of the maximum technically feasible reductions in this sector.
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Agriculture and waste also provide opportunities. Rice emissions can be reduced through improved water management, low-emission hybrids and soil amendments. While innovations in technology and practices hold promise in the longer term, near-term potential in livestock is more constrained and trends in global diets may counteract gains.
Waste sector emissions had been expected to increase more rapidly, but improvements in waste management in several regions over the past two decades have moderated this rise. Long-term mitigation in this sector requires immediate investment in improved landfills and circular waste systems, as emissions from waste already deposited will persist in the short term.
New measurement tools
Methane monitoring capacity has expanded significantly. Satellite-based systems can now identify methane super-emitters. Ground-based sensors are becoming more accessible and can provide real-time data. These developments improve national inventories and can strengthen accountability.
However, policy action does not need to wait for perfect measurement. Current scientific understanding of source magnitudes and mitigation effectiveness is sufficient to achieve a 30% reduction between 2020 and 2030. Many of the largest reductions in oil, gas and coal can be delivered through binding technology standards that do not require high precision quantification of emissions.
The decisive years ahead
The next 2 years will be critical for determining whether existing commitments translate into emissions reductions consistent with the Global Methane Pledge.
Governments should prioritise adoption of an effective international methane performance standard for oil and gas, including through the EU Methane Regulation, and expand the reach of such standards through voluntary buyers’ clubs. National and regional authorities should introduce binding technology standards for oil, gas and coal to ensure that voluntary agreements are backed by legal requirements.
One approach to promoting better progress on methane is to develop a binding methane agreement, starting with the oil and gas sector, as suggested by Barbados’ PM Mia Mottley and other leaders. Countries must also address the deeper challenge of political and economic dependence on fossil fuels, which continues to slow progress. Without a dual strategy of reducing methane and deep decarbonisation, it will not be possible to meet the Paris Agreement objectives.
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The next four years will determine whether available technologies, scientific evidence and political leadership align to deliver a rapid transition toward near-zero methane energy systems, holistic and equity-based lower emission agricultural systems and circular waste management strategies that eliminate methane release. These years will also determine whether the world captures the near-term climate benefits of methane abatement or locks in higher long-term costs and risks.
The Global Methane Status Report shows that the world is beginning to change course. Delivering the sharper downward trajectory now required is a test of political will. As scientists, we have laid out the evidence. Leaders must now act on it.
The post Curbing methane is the fastest way to slow warming – but we’re off the pace appeared first on Climate Home News.
Curbing methane is the fastest way to slow warming – but we’re off the pace
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