India, April 12 -- Parties at the UN's International Maritime Organization (IMO) have agreed to the world's first-ever carbon pricing mechanism or a carbon tax on global shipping.

On Friday, countries including India, Brazil and China voted during the closing plenary to adopt a global framework that will put a carbon price on shipping emissions that will also help the industry decarbonise and encourage the use of cleaner technologies. India was represented by the Shipping ministry.

The tax is expected to be formally adopted in October 2025, though several technical details need to be worked out. The tax will generate $30-40 billion in revenues by 2030, roughly $10 billion annually. The agreement is projected to deliver at best 10% absol...