The United States on Friday threatened to impose various sanctions to punish countries that support an international agreement on CO2 taxes on shipping.
In a press release, several ministers, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, said that they are considering visa restrictions and banning vessels from the countries in question from docking in the United States.
- This government unconditionally rejects this proposal to the IMO and will not tolerate any actions that increase costs for our citizens, energy suppliers, shipping companies and their customers or tourists, the ministers wrote.
The agreement on CO2 taxes was reached through the UN Maritime Organization, IMO. It states that international shipping must be climate neutral by 2050.
From 2028, ships must use fuel with a lower carbon content than today. If the ships exceed the agreed levels, it will trigger CO2 taxes.
According to the plan, it will be finally adopted next week, writes the news agency AFP.
Denmark supports
Denmark is among the supporters of the agreement. When it came into place earlier this year, it was called historic by Minister of Industry Morten Bødskov (S).
He said at the same time that Denmark had hoped for an even more ambitious agreement, but that it was the first step towards climate-neutral shipping by 2050.
Several countries - including the USA - are outside the agreement. But the US government is concerned that the CO2 taxes will push up prices in the shipping market.
At the same time, US President Donald Trump has made it clear that the US, under his leadership, is pursuing a somewhat different climate policy than his predecessor, Joe Biden.
Trump has denounced climate action as a scam, and he has softened legislation in the area so that more fossil fuels can be extracted and used.
Among the possible measures that the Trump administration is considering using to punish countries that support the CO2 taxes are also sanctions against politicians or officials.
- The US will begin introducing these measures against nations that support this European-led neocolonial export of global climate legislation, the press release states.
/ritzau/
Text, graphics, images, sound, and other content on this website are protected under copyright law. DK Medier reserves all rights to the content, including the right to exploit the content for the purpose of text and data mining, cf. Section 11b of the Copyright Act and Article 4 of the DSM Directive.
Customers with IP agreements/major customer agreements may only share Danish Offshore Industry articles internally for the purpose of handling specific cases. Sharing in connection with specific cases refers to journaling, archiving, or similar uses.
Customers with a personal subscription/login may not share Danish Offshore Industry articles with individuals who do not themselves have a personal subscription to Danish Offshore Industry.
Any deviation from the above requires written consent from DK Medier.
