For most people, the idea of suddenly losing everything – their home, their possessions, and even their family members and friends – is unthinkable. But, for island communities around the world, this idea is all too real. And as the effects of climate change – including more frequent and severe natural disasters and extreme weather events – intensify, the threat is becoming increasingly acute.
Seven years ago, my home, the small island country of Dominica, was struck by Hurricane Maria – a category 5 hurricane, which caused catastrophic loss and damage from which we are still recovering. Two other island countries, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada, fell victim to a similar tragedy this past summer, when Hurricane Beryl, a category 4 storm, tore through the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.
Hurricanes have long been a feature of life in the Caribbean. But Maria and Beryl were no ordinary hurricanes: Maria brought record-breaking rainfall, and Beryl was the earliest hurricane in history to reach category 5 in the Atlantic Ocean. Scientists agree that climate change powered these disasters – and has made more storms like them far more likely.
It bears repeating that the countries that are most vulnerable to climate change – especially small island developing states (SIDS), like Dominica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada – are often those that have done the least to cause it. As a result, we have little power to mitigate it directly, such as by reducing our own (already low) emissions. But we can still contribute to overcoming the challenge. The key is to work together to compel big polluters to change their behavior.
There are few polluters bigger than the shipping industry. Not only is shipping responsible for around 3 per cent of total global greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions; it also pollutes our oceans with sewage, plastics, and oil and chemicals. Shipping thus causes serious harm to human health, especially for low-income port communities in developing countries, with pollutants from ships estimated to contribute to over 250,000 premature deaths annually.
To be sure, a functioning shipping industry remains essential both to the global economy and to life in SIDS. Ships move around 80 per cent of all traded products worldwide; for Dominica, this includes virtually all vital goods, from food to tools to medical supplies. Shipping also facilitates the tourism that supports so many livelihoods on our island.
But, while shipping is essential, so is reducing the associated pollution. That is why the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea – the world’s highest court for marine protection – issued an unprecedented advisory opinion in May stating that countries are legally obliged to cut emissions, including from shipping, in order to protect the ocean.
Putting a price on the industry’s GHG emissions would go a long way toward advancing that objective. Requiring shipping companies to pay for every ton of emissions from their vessels would raise the cost of using fossil fuels, thereby accelerating the shift toward clean-energy sources.
According to a recent study by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, such a levy would harm the global economy less than other approaches to decarbonising shipping, such as a clean-fuel standard. And if the revenues generated are directed toward developing economies, the surcharge could reduce global inequality. Those revenues would be substantial: according to the World Bank, a levy of $150 per ton would generate $60-80 billion per year.
For countries like Dominica, such a policy would be a game-changer. It would reduce the pollution from ships that come to our shores, make our ports and supply chains more resilient to rising sea levels and extreme weather events, advance a just energy transition, and support progress on the Sustainable Development Goals.
An ideal opportunity to accelerate progress toward this goal is about to unfold in London. Between September 23 and October 4, the UN’s International Maritime Organization (IMO) and its 175 member states will attempt to agree on a set of policies for reducing shipping emissions, including some form of emissions pricing, to be adopted in April 2025.
In the negotiations, SIDS must stand together to ensure that the levy is sufficiently high, and that the revenues will be distributed equitably. Already, a growing majority of countries want to see a levy mechanism adopted at the IMO, but others, including Brazil and China, continue to resist this opportunity.
Belize and Pacific island states are calling for a price of $150 per ton, with the revenues going mostly to SIDS and least developed countries to finance investment in zero-emissions energy, ships and maritime infrastructure, and broader climate and resilience goals. More countries, in the Caribbean and beyond, must join them. When speaking in unison, our voices will matter.
