Trade and climate change
EP underlines need to address conflicts between trade and climate policy
The European Parliament today adopted a report on trade and climate change by Green draftsman Yannick Jadot with a large majority. The report sets out the need to ensure greater coherence between trade and efforts to address climate change. After the vote, rapporteur Yannick Jadot (Greens/EFA) said:
"Coherent and responsible climate change policy implies not just tackling the greenhouse gas emissions directly produced within a country, but also addressing the emissions caused through our consumption of products and services we import. This report sets out measures to deal with this, for example differentiating products in terms oftheir carbon footprint, addressing carbon leakage and ending fossil fuel subsidies.
"The report could have been more ambitious but, regrettably a centre-right majority rejected some key elements. It still represents a major step forward for strengthening the coherence between trade and climate policy. As such, it is an important contribution on the path towards a more sustainable, green economy."
Main points of the report on trade and climate change
- It calls on the Commission to relaunch WTO discussions on the processes and production methods, with a view to differentiating products in terms of their carbon footprint
- It calls for a reform of WTO anti-dumping rules to include the issue of a fair environmental price .
- It calls to include the calculation of a carbon balance for each trade policy, and to take compensatory measures if the impact is negative on the climate
- The report also acknowledges that only a few EU industrial sectors are at risk of 'carbon leakage', where climate policies might have an impact on the competitiveness of European businesses. It calls on the Commission to properly reassess the list of sectors at risk, and to take more targeted measures to address this risk (such as border adjustment tariffs but only with the full auction of emission permits).
- The report calls on the Commission to propose a clear timetable for the swift elimination of fossil fuel subsidies, notably seizing out the tax exemptions of the aviation sector. The EU should show leadership rather than waiting on other G20 countries.
