Pressure is growing on the international shipping industry to accept a carbon levy on ships that would fund climate action in the developing world, with the World Bank among those pushing for the measures, the Guardian reports.

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO), made up of 175 governments, is hosting meetings in London through March 24, at which the contribution of shipping to the climate crisis will be a key focus.

A proposal from the World Bank, seen by the Guardian, would require shipping companies to pay into a fund based on the amount of carbon their fleets emit. Those funds could be spent on reducing emissions from shipping, but the World Bank is pushing to see them directed instead towards projects that could help reduce emissions in poor countries.

Emissions from shipping, along with those from aviation, have long been omitted from international climate agreements, such as the Paris agreement, because the transnational nature of transport makes it hard to allot their emissions to a particular country. That has allowed the sector to escape scrutiny, in the eyes of campaigners.