Several countries are backing the shipping industry’s call for a $5 billion research and development fund to help decarbonize. The fund will enable industry to work together to solve the problem before regulators make their own emissions plans. The proposal has been backed by member states including Greece, Japan, Liberia and Singapore and would establish the IMO Maritime Research Fund from a $2 per tonne of bunker fuel surcharge. The Fund would support a new International Maritime Research and Development Board (IMRB) to commission collaborative programs for the applied research and development R&D of zero-carbon maritime technologies, including development of working prototypes. It will also assist CO2 reduction projects in developing countries, including Pacific island nations. Upping the stakes ahead of June’s MEPC session, the Marshall Islands and the Solomon Islands have put forward a proposal to establish a universal, mandatory greenhouse gas (GHG) levy with an entry price of $100 per tonne/CO2e with regular upward ratchets following review.