developing countries
4. The EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism towards net zero: mitigating adverse impacts on least developed countries
As part of its ongoing efforts towards net zero by 2050, the European Parliament and the Council have reached an agreement on the implementation of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), the EU's landmark tool to put a fair price on the carbon emitted during the production of carbon-intensive goods entering the EU and to encourage cleaner industrial production in non-EU countries. Achieving its updated climate ambition will require substantial and rapid reduction in the current emissions quota.
Perdana, S., & Vielle, M. (2022). Making the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism acceptable and climate friendly for least developed countries. Energy Policy, 170, 113245.
Implementation of CBAM to support EU climate neutrality by 2050 has raised several concerns. As the mechanism aims to minimise leakage through equal fairness in global mitigation, imposing carbon tariffs on the EU’s imports of energy-intensive goods could curtail the export of EU trading partners. This might be detrimental, especially to the LDCs, due to their high exposures and vulnerability risks. This paper assesses and quantifies the implication of EU-CBAM and analyses eight complementary measures to mitigate the impacts on LDCs.
Karamaneas, A., Neofytou, H., Koasidis, K., Nikas, A., De Miglio, R., McWilliams, B., & Doukas, H. (2022). Prioritizing Climate Action and Sustainable Development in the Central Asia and Caspian Region. In: Wood, G., Onyango, V., Yenneti, K., Liakopoulou, M.A. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Zero Carbon Energy Systems and Energy Transitions. Palgrave Studies in Energy Transitions. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
The Central Asia and Caspian region is a geographical area facing the harsh effects of climate change, such as rapid temperature rise, water body desiccation, and biodiversity losses. Nevertheless, national climate policies in the region have not demonstrated the necessary ambition. A first glance primarily points to the abundance and exploitation of fossil fuels. Taking a closer look at the national and regional context, we identify a diversity of infrastructural, economic, and social challenges to the region’s sustainable development.
Mohan, A., Geden, O., Fridahl, M., Buck, H. J., & Peters, G. P. (2021). UNFCCC must confront the political economy of net-negative emissions. One Earth, 4(10), 1348-1351.
Recent demands by developing countries, like India, that developed countries need to reach net-negative emissions, must be negotiated seriously under the UNFCCC. Failure to acknowledge that limiting global average temperature rise to 1.5°C leaves very little carbon budget for equitable redistribution risks further ambiguity on how to achieve the Paris Agreement’s goals.