IMF calls for a carbon tax on aviation and shipping

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has called for a carbon tax on the aviation and shipping industries in order help curb carbon emissions and reach global climate goals. According to a new report, a carbon tax of $30 per tone of CO2 applied to international transport fuels would have raised $25bn in 2014. Last year, we reported that emissions from the global aviation and shipping industries accounted for 4% of the global emissions total. The IMF understands there are "challenges" to implementing a levy, which ultimately rely on the UN-backed authorities, the International Civil Aviation Organization and International Maritime Organization, to regulate international coordination and legal issues, but that the practicalities of it should be "manageable".

The International Monetary Fund is calling for a carbon tax on aviation and shipping to help deliver global climate goals.



A charge of $30 a tonne on carbon dioxide embedded in international transport fuels could have raised $25 billion in 2014, the influential Washington DC-based body estimates.

In a report released after 195 countries struck a UN climate pact in Paris, it said carbon pricing should be “front and centre” in efforts to curb global warming.

Levies on so-called bunker fuels were “promising”, it said, and a possible source of climate finance – support for developing countries to go green and adapt to shifting weather patterns.

Emissions from planes and ships, around 4% of the global total and rising, were not directly addressed in the Paris agreement.

It is up to the UN-backed authorities, the International Civil Aviation Organization and International Maritime Organization respectively, to regulate the international sectors.

The IMF noted there were “challenges” to imposing a levy, including the need for international coordination and legal issues, “but the practicalities should be manageable”.