Opinion | EU carbon border tax: China’s cooperation will send right climate signal
- China is seeking high-level dialogue with the EU on its Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism even as it strengthens its carbon market
- The level of China’s climate ambition sends a very important message to the rest of the world
In recent months and years, extreme weather disasters in both China and the European Union have made our citizens acutely aware of climate change’s devastating effects.
As two of the world’s leading economies, implementing bold and decisive carbon mitigation strategies can help us accelerate the fight against this dramatic deterioration and act as a role model for emerging economies.
The EU’s pioneering ETS has been in place since 2005, helping to reduce emissions from power and industrial plants by 37 per cent in that time. It has recently been extended to cover an even broader swathe of industrial activities, as well as the aviation and maritime sectors.
The mechanism has two goals: to prevent the “carbon leakage” that happens when production moves outside the EU to take advantage of lower environmental standards or are replaced by more polluting imports; and, to encourage industry worldwide to embrace greener technologies.