IMF, World Bank eye carbon tax on airline, ship fuels

The World Bank and IMF are proposing global carbon taxes on aviation and ship fuels in developed economies to help reduce carbon dioxide emissions, according to a draft proposal seen by AFP Friday.

The proposal suggests an international charge on aviation and maritime bunker fuels of $25 per tonne of CO2, which it said would "reduce CO2 emissions from each sector by around five to 10 per cent."

Such a charge, if implemented well, could also bring in $250bn in taxes in 2020, according to the report, which focuses on how funds to fight climate change can be mobilised.

The report recommends the plan for the "Annex II Countries" of the UN Climate Change Convention, including most developed economies.

The report stressed the difficulty of coordinating such a global tax, especially for bunker fuel, which ship operators can easily source in countries that would not be covered by any such agreement.

The same report also urged governments to remove subsidies for fossil fuels in the Annex II countries, which it said were worth about $40-$60bn per year in 2005-2010.
 

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