France said Friday it would throw its weight behind an emissions tax on the heavily polluting shipping industry, adding momentum to a campaign long championed by Pacific island nations and environmental campaigners.
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French President Emmanuel Macron will push the issue at an international conference next week to discuss revamping the global development aid system where Brazilian leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as well as a host of African heads of state are expected.
The shipping industry transports around 90 percent of traded goods worldwide and accounts for around three percent of global carbon emissions, which are currently unregulated.
Two Pacific nations exposed to the risk of rising sea levels, the Marshall and Solomon islands, have been pushing over the last decade for a $100-per-tonne tax on maritime industry emissions which would create incentives for operators to cut their pollution.
"We hope that we will give a real political boost" to the proposal at the summit, an aide to said on condition of anonymity on Friday.
Macron will host dozens of foreign leaders at the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in Paris from June 22-23 and a pledge from participating countries such as China, Saudi Arabia or Brazil would represent a concrete achievement from the talks.
French officials believe it would add pressure on shipping groups and the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a United Nations agency, which is set to host a summit in two weeks' time where the carbon tax is expected to be discussed.
The Marshall and Solomon Islands proposals would add tax of around $300-400 to the price of a tonne of heavy oil used by container ships, raising approximately $60-80 billion (55-73 billion euros) of tax receipts per year, according to the World Bank.
These funds could then be used by emerging countries to help finance their transition to a low-carbon economy and adapt to climate change.
The shipping industry, which operates across multiple jurisdictions and often in international waters, is "currently completely exempt from tax either on their sales or their emissions," the French presidential aide said.
"We need new resources" to fight climate change and poverty as the "needs are so huge", the official said. ■