Your article (Report, May 3) said the International Chamber of Shipping “is pushing for a levy of 63 cents per CO₂ tonne to set up a research fund” in contrast to Japan and others’ proposed carbon levy of around $100. This risks conflating two very different measures intended to help decarbonise shipping, and could wrongly imply that the industry does not want a global levy on carbon emissions from ships.
In fact, the proposed R&D fund, which will hopefully be approved by the UN in June, is quite separate to carbon pricing for shipping, and is aimed specifically at accelerating the development of zero-carbon fuels — something vital to the industry’s green transition.
We have never proposed 63 cents per CO₂ tonne as a carbon price. Indeed, ICS recently submitted research to the UN showing that a price between $50 and $100 per CO₂ tonne could well be viable for the industry.
Guy Platten
Secretary-general
International Chamber of Shipping
London EC3, UK
