The European Union's Emissions Trading System — effectively a carbon tax — is set to be extended to the shipping industry starting in January 2024.
Moves like that will cause an"inflationary impact," according to Bertrand Chen, CEO of the Global Shipping Business Network, who was speaking at CNBC's East Tech West conference.The cost of decarbonizing the shipping industry will have a knock-on effect on consumers, according to a CEO in the maritime industry.
"There will be an inflationary impact coming from decarbonization of shipping … there is no question of it," Bertrand Chen, CEO of the Global Shipping Business Network, told CNBC's"The EU government is imposing this cost to the shipping line … But now what that means is the shipping has to take action to decarbonize and naturally that will impact all the consumer. So, I think it's just a trade-off people will have to live with.
"Everyone will have to become decarbonized, it's a question of time. And in that world, what you need is to be able to prove to the end consumer that indeed the action you're taking is right and that's something that's not easy to prove today," he added. Using the blockchain to store and give access to legal and financial documents could help the shipping industry provide that proof, Chen said.