WE all know shipping needs to decarbonise, now the industry is confronting the detail.

Countries meeting at the IMO next week now have five plans for carbon price policies in front of them.

Island states and the International Chamber of Shipping are for carbon levies. Norway and European Union members prefer a cap-and-trade scheme, while China and Japan have proposed more complex rebates.

This is a huge change from the IMO’s usual technical fare, and the pressure on it has never been greater.

The sluggish, secretive IMO is set to tackle fundamental questions, including how to measure emissions cuts, and how steep the curve to zero-emissions shipping should be.

But while states are sure to argue over the best approach, and about how much to spend on helping developing countries, the work is in many ways just beginning.

Joining us this week to are:

Tristan Smith, the director of University Maritime Advisory Services

Edmund Hughes, a consultant and former IMO emissions chief

And Mads Peter Zacho, head of industry transition at the Maersk McKinney Moller Centre for Zero Carbon Shipping