Shipping now faces the highest price on carbon for any global industry

The world has never had a global price on carbon. Instead, more than 60 emission trading systems and taxes have been stitched together by national governments pricing a ton of CO₂, anywhere from less than $1(Poland) to more than $120 (Sweden). A coordinated international carbon price has been stymied by bureaucracy, jurisdictional disputes, industry resistance, and worries over international competitiveness.

But the blockade on international carbon price appears to be finally coming to an end. One of the most ambitious proposals has come from one of the world’s smaller countries: the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI).

Since March, the tiny chain of volcanic islands in the Pacific Ocean has been advancing a proposal before the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the UN agency regulating the industry, to impose a $100 per ton tax on all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the international shipping industry. By 2050, it calls for a complete phase-out of fossil fuels.

Read the rest of this story on qz.com. Become a member to get unlimited access to Quartz’s journalism.