11/29/11 3:20pm

Article By: Marty Niland

A major shipping group will allow its members to be taxed to help pay for an international climate change fund, but delegates at the world climate talks in Durban, South Africa, still have sharp disagreements on how such a fund would be managed.

The Associated Press reports that the International Chamber of Shipping, which represents about 80 percent of the world's merchant marine, is joining aid groups Oxfam and WWF International in support of a levy on carbon emissions by ships. The International Maritime Organization, the U.N. agency regulating international shipping, would work out details of the levy.

But even with the offer of funding from the industry that carries roughly 90 percent of the world's trade, delegates still can't agree on how to administer the so-called Green Climate Fund. Sticking points include the fund's level of independence, who will run the fund, and whether most of its money will come from public or private sources.

The United States and Saudi Arabia held up an agreement on the fund at last year's conference in Mexico. U.S. negotiators want to ensure that private investments in the fund would need approval from governments.