THE US has launched a late bid to derail a pivotal agreement to decarbonise shipping by 2050, threatening unspecified “reciprocal measures” against states that agree to greenhouse gas emission reduction measures.

According to a US statement issued to all London embassies of International Maritime Organization member states this week, the measures under discussion would “impose substantial economic burdens on the sector and drive inflation globally”.

The US is therefore urging that the UN agency should “halt all efforts to proliferate the deeply unfair agenda reflected in the Paris Agreement in other fora”.

The bombshell intervention comes amid already faltering negotiations at the IMO where wavering Middle East states had been coalescing around a China-led position that would remove the option of a carbon levy being applied to shipping. 

While the US position had been the subject of discussion in the run up to this week’s meeting where states are scheduled to agree mid-term measures, the absence of US negotiators had led some to believe that they were simply opting out of the discussion.

The latest statement, however, confirms that the US is actively seeking to end IMO negotiations and dramatically reverses a long held US position that saw it working over several years with other IMO member states on the IMO’s greenhouse gas strategy.

“A plain reading of these measures is that they are foremost an effort to redistribute wealth under the guise of environmental protection,” the US ‘verbal demarche’ statement reads.

“Accordingly, we must be clear the US rejects any and all efforts to impose economic measures against its ships based on GHG emissions or fuel choice… and urges your government to reconsider its support for the GHG emissions measures under consideration.”

The statement confirms that the US will not be engaging in the Marine Environment Protection Committee meeting currently being held at IMO headquarters in London.

While a defiant opposition from the US alone would not be sufficient to derail negotiations, the fact that the statement comes with the direct threat of “reciprocal measures” has the potential to significantly disrupt the debate.

The US statement makes clear that the US will consider “reciprocal measures so as to offset any fees charged to US ships and compensate the American people for any other economic harm from any adopted GHG emissions measures”.

That statement will now require negotiating states to seek instruction from their capitals — a process that has the potential to require either an extension on the debate or force a compromised agreement at the end of the week.

Middle East states had already been wavering on the process, arguing that insufficient time had been spent discussing scientific and technical evidence and Tuesday’s discussions ended with several of the states yet to declare their position remaining silent on how they would vote.

The emergence of the US statement is expected to significantly disrupt today’s proceedings, most of which were scheduled to take place behind closed doors away from the public plenary sessions.

Given the wording of the US statement, it seems that the US position is significantly more than an attempt to leverage a negotiated outcome; rather it marks a fundamental opposition to the process in its entirety.

“President Trump has made it clear that the US will not accept any international environmental agreement that unduly or unfairly burdens the US or the interest of the American people. While we will not ignore threats to our natural environment, President Trump promised the American people a return to energy dominance”, the US statement informed IMO member states.

The IMO’s effort to achieve absolute greenhouse gas emission reduction targets for international shipping including net zero emissions by around 2050 would “unwisely promote the use of hypothetical expensive and unproven fuels at the expense of existing and proven technologies that fuel global shipping fleets”.

“International shipping is a global enterprise in which all countries play some part. Any attempts to differentiate between countries based on developments or other factors has no place in IMO governance. These attempts are incompatible with the IMO’s legal principles of non-discrimination and no more favourable treatments.

“Furthermore, we oppose any proposed measure that would fund any unrelated environmental or other projects outside the shipping sector and note that such uses would be inconsistent with annex 6 of the IMO’s International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (Marpol).”

The US statement ends with a suggestion that the US will be prepared to engage in bilateral discussions with states outside of the IMO process.

“The US will engage with partners on energy and investment and issues of common interest. We stand ready to work with you to advance our shared commitment to energy security and economic growth.”

The MEPC discussions will continue in London today and are scheduled to conclude on Friday.