Britain and IPCC ‘Skeptical’ Over Carbon Import Tariffs

Grist (7/27, AFP) – Britain opposes the use of carbon import tariffs against developing countries to encourage them to tackle global warming, British Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Miliband said on Saturday. “We are skeptical about the notion of trade tariffs as a good solution to the issues that we face in relation to climate change,” Miliband told AFP.

Some rich countries say tariffs are necessary as they could dissuade polluting industries from shifting operations overseas to places with less stringent environmental controls. But countries such as China and India reject that view, arguing they are merely a pretext for protectionism. A bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last month could allow import taxes on products made in countries that do not have statutory curbs on greenhouse-gas emissions, sparking an outcry from emerging economies such as India and China.

Wall Street Journal (7/22, Johnson) – The head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Rajendra Pachauri, is the latest to take aim at U.S. “carbon tariffs” that would be slapped on imports from countries that don’t take steps to reduce emissions. He said carbon tariffs undermine the chances of a global deal on climate change by angering developing countries. Whatever the merits of Mr. Pachauri’s argument, it leaves unanswered two big questions: How will the U.S. Congress summon the political will to take unilateral action on climate change when the world’s biggest emitter—and a major trade partner—refuses to do so?