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The government of Japan proposes to impose a global tax on bunker fuel in a bid fight climate change, Reuters reports.

Japan is expected to present a proposal to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in April which also includes a plan to pool the charges into a fund and, as an incentive, refund part of the money to vessels that improve their energy efficiency.

The plan is said to be similar to that of Denmark, but different from the European Commission's idea to incorporate shipping into a global emissions trading scheme beyond the 2008-2012 Kyoto period.

Speaking to Reuters, an unnamed source is reported to have said "We agree with the basic idea to charge bunker fuel and set up a fund to partly return to ships as an incentive to improve energy efficiency." The source is said to have added that the industry was considering how the pooled fund should be used to support developing countries.

In a recent study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the University of Colorado, ships were estimated to emit 0.9 teragrams, or about 2.2 million pounds, of particle pollution each year.

The shipping sector is also believed to contribute approximately 3 percent of the world's emissions of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas.

Japan has said capping emissions in absolute terms would be difficult given high volatility in demand for international shipping, in which developing economies play a key role.

Instead, Japan argues the maritime sector should target improvements in the energy efficiency of individual ships and support developing countries' efforts to do so.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) said that 'major progress' was made last week in developing measures to enhance energy efficiency in international shipping, and thereby reduce greenhouse gas emissions, when IMO's Working Group on Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) from Ships met in London.

The working group, which was attended by more than 200 experts from all over the world, concentrated on the technical and operational measures to reduce GHG from ships - two of the three pillars of IMO's GHG work. The third pillar, possible market-based instruments, will be debated in depth at IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) when it meets for its 59th session in July.