Pacific Voices Rise To Steer Global Shipping Toward Justice

As the sun rises over the Pacific Islands, national delegates are debating into the night working out how to slash greenhouse gas emissions in the shipping industry.

With only one more day to finalise the details including a price on emissions, nations are grouped by their common interests as they try to influence the final agreement at the London headquarters of the International Maritime Organization, the UN agency that regulates shipping.

Leading the most ambitious group is 6PAC+, an alliance of countries pushing for climate justice in international shipping. It began with six Pacific Island nations - Fiji, Kiribati, Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Tuvalu - and has now grown to include Vanuatu, Nauru, Palau, and allies across Africa, the Caribbean, and Central America, collectively dubbed ACP+. Although not a formal ally, the United Kingdom has come out in support of many of the positions of 6PAC+.

Ambassador Albon Ishoda, the Marshall Islands special envoy for maritime decarbonisation, leads many of the discussions. He continues the mission from the late Foreign Minister Tony de Brum, who started this Pacific-led movement well over a decade ago. In 2015, he stood before the IMO and called on it to align with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C climate goal.

The Ambassador said the IMO, including the US, agreed on decarbonisation targets in 2023. “We are here in London to agree on how we meet those targets. The Marshall Islands is here to agree on measures that provide predictability and certainty to the shipping industry, and that speeds up a transition to green shipping that is already underway.

“In this time of instability in the markets, a clear direction from this IMO meeting is needed more than ever. We are going to continue negotiating with those that are prepared to talk.”

Since de Brum’s call for climate justice, Pacific countries have built alliances, conducted research, and stayed in the fight to reduce shipping emissions.

Shipping, so far, has escaped effective greenhouse gas regulations, even though the industry produces nearly 3% of annual global emissions. It might sound small, but if it were a country, it would be the sixth biggest polluter in the world - ahead of Germany. And unlike cars or planes, the extremely dirty “bunker fuel” most ships use is largely exempt from fuel taxes on countries.

The talks this week by the Marine Environment Protection Committee at the IMO will result in binding measures. Once they have reached consensus, all the 175 member states and all their ships will have to follow it. But the motivations to change are felt less by larger nations and fuel suppliers. The United States has already pulled its support and not engaged in negotiations.

These talks are highly technical. To help with this, the Micronesian Center of Sustainable Transport, which was started by the RMI government, has been working with global research partners to provide scientific, policy, and legal advice on reducing emissions in international shipping. They also require high levels of coordination and teamwork as nations jostle to have their voices heard.

Vanuatu’s Minister of Climate Change Adaptation, Meteorology, Geo-Hazards, Environment, Energy, and Disaster Management Ralph Regenvanu, has described these talks as the great opportunity.

Minister Regenvanu is a veteran of climate negotiations and is straightforward about what needs to be done. “Wealthy nations and powerful industries claim urgency while refusing to act. That is why Vanuatu took its fight to the International Court of Justice—because the climate crisis is not an accident. It is the direct result of choices made by the world’s biggest polluters.

“At the IMO, the same principles apply. We will not allow this institution to become another forum where action is sacrificed for compromise, where profit is prioritised over people.”

The process of the IMO is that each member has one vote, but the reality of politics is that wealth and power uplift the voices of certain states, which are often the biggest polluters.

Helping the case of 6PAC+ is that in 2023 the IMO agreed to cut emissions by 30% by 2030, 80% by 2040, and reach net-zero emissions by or around 2050. 6PAC+ is seeking full alignment with the 1.5°C Paris Agreement goal, a mandatory, universal fee on shipping emissions, which in the course of this week’s negotiations have been reframed as a ZNZ (Zero or Net Zero) contribution to emissions.

The levy revenues will be used to incentivise the development and scaling of ZNZ fuels and also fund a Just and Equitable Transition, especially for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs). That might mean stronger seawalls, resilient

infrastructure, food security programs, community-based solar and wind energy, updating fleets and port infrastructure.

The IMO did its own research - with a commissioned study done by the UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) that found a USD 150–300 per tonne levy is the most effective and fair way to support climate goals while keeping trade stable. 6PAC+ is advocating for a USD150 price per tonne.

So in London at the moment, national delegates are tasked with creating a package that delivers the targets for 2030, 2040, and 2050, while raising enough money to support a just and equitable transition, and applies fairly to all ships, without loopholes or exemptions. The strategy must be simple, enforceable, and science-based.

Most of the industry supports high ambition. In January the International Chamber of Shipping declared its support. Its Secretary General Guy Platten said it fully supported the adoption by IMO of a GHG pricing mechanism for global application to shipping.

As delegations get closer to finalising the agreement on Friday, the mood of the room switches between hope and frustration. However, the 6PAC+ delegation and their supporters are relentless and battle hardy as they approach the negotiation deadline.

Tuvalu’s Minister for Transport, Energy, Communications and Innovation, Simon Kofe, said it best earlier this week. “The solution we are seeking is for humanity, not just for ourselves”

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