For Marshall Islands ambassador Albon Ishoda, climate change is not just a political or economic issue but a matter of survival.
The Marshall Islands is made up of 40 coral atolls with its highest point just two metres above sea level. He said rising sea levels and temperatures attributed to climate change have put the island’s future at risk.
“We are being attacked on all fronts,” Ishoda said. “Climate change is having a major impact on the people and culture of the Marshall Islands due to what science has labelled an increase in carbon emissions from human activity.
“We are now at the forefront of this global challenge, when you are there, [the Marshall Islands] you see it and feel it, when the seas invade your land and there is an increase in droughts.”
In an effort to save the country, together with the Solomon Islands, the state has put a proposal to the International Maritime Organization that shipowners should be taxed $100 per tonne of carbon emitted, and that the carbon reduction targets set by the IMO should be raised.
The proposal has alarmed some, especially when an alternative proposal for the establishment of a research and development fund suggests a levy of only $2 per tonne of fuel used is required.
Ishoda said he has had a positive response, as well as some concerns being raised about the idea. The Marshall Islands is currently in discussions with other Pacific Island states about getting their support for the proposal.
Under the scheme, the billions of dollars raised would be split between research and development for low-carbon technology, and also to help countries such as the Marshall Islands that have been impacted by climate change.
The proposal is something that could potentially put the Marshall Islands government at odds with the commercial interests of its ship register.
But Ishoda said he has worked with the Marshall Islands Registry on the idea.
[A reduction of] 50% is not nearly enough to secure our future as a country
Albon Ishoda
The registry recently put out a statement explaining that its fleet is the “youngest and greenest” in the shipping industry with an average age of 9.4 years. It added that more than half of its fleet had adopted green technologies.
Chief executive Bill Gallagher said shipowners registered in the Marshall Islands Registry are "ahead of the pack" in adopting environmental technology. However, it declined to comment on the Marshall Islands’ government proposal.
But Ishoda said there is growing support in the shipping industry for the idea that tax should be used in the battle against climate change.
“We work with the registry and they recognise that a lot of shipping lines want to transition to low carbon,” he said.
“So many people in the world pay tax for cigarettes or alcohol, I don’t know why there isn’t also a tax for carbon, which is affecting so many people in the world.
“We recognise change is not easy, especially for the IMO, which is so rooted in tradition. But, as one of the largest flag nations, we have a duty to show leadership.”
Ishoda said shipping is a “lifeline” for the Marshall Islands economy, and developing a low-carbon industry would be a key use of funds raised by the tax.
But he added that the development of new technologies will be critical for the transition into a low-carbon industry.
“Finance will play a key role in accelerating the transition,” he said. “We know that the technology exists, but the capex [capital expenditure] for some is too much, but in the long run it will be a saving.”
The IMO’s next carbon target is to achieve a 50% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050 compared with 2008. For Ishoda, that is not nearly enough. In 2015, the Marshall Islands proposed that a carbon cut of some 75% would likely be required if shipping is to significantly contribute to curbing global warming. “People looked at us like we were crazy,” he said.
But, he still thinks the figure is more in line with what the IMO should be targeting, and the Marshall Islands is pushing for the IMO to reassess its current goals. The survival of his country is at stake. “[A reduction of] 50% is not nearly enough to secure our future as a country,” he said.
