Trump shadow over COP29 meet, US negotiator says not end of fight

The two-week annual conference got off to a rocky start because of a Chinese proposal to discuss climate-related trade barriers introduced by the European Union last year. The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) imposes a carbon tax on goods being imported into the EU market, based on the emission footprint of these goods. The goods are taxed if the emission footprint is higher than similar goods being produced within the EU. The first sectors to have been targeted by this tax include high-emission products like steel, cement, aluminium and fertilisers, with rates being as high as 25-30 per cent.

Trump has also said that his administration would impose similar taxes on imported products, and threatened to put higher taxes on goods coming in from China.

China said such “unilateral restrictive trade measures” in the guise of furthering climate objectives were violative of several international legal instruments, including provisions of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and therefore deserved to be included on the agenda of discussions at COP29. It said such measures increased the cost of global climate action, and were counter-productive.

“Parties should seek to engage in good faith to address concerns with unilateral trade-restrictive measures based on alleged climate objectives. Parties should also reiterate opposition to the politicisation of climate change issues and all forms of unilateralism and protectionism, recognising that unilateral measures with negative cross border impacts violate the objectives and principles of the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement… and seriously undermine multilateral cooperation and the ability of the concerned countries to combat climate change,” it said in its submission.

“BASIC is of the view that UNFCCC parties are obligated to send a clear and strong signal of commitment to multilateralism and global cooperation as the most effective and just manner to respond to climate change,” it said, while arguing for including these discussions in COP29.

The Chinese proposal was opposed by the European Union and the US, holding up the adoption of the agenda at COP29 for several hours. Ultimately, late in the evening, the Chinese proposal was marked for more consultations before it could be considered for inclusion into the agenda.

Trade issues have always been important at the climate negotiations, but CBAM-kind of non-tariff barriers are a new phenomenon which developing countries have been resisting strongly. This issue is expected to come up again in different forms at this meeting.

Meanwhile, the US said China, as the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, must take greater responsibility in the fight against climate change. China is classified as a developing country in the global climate framework, and does not have the same obligations as the US, Europe or Australia. That is because when the framework was finalised, in the mid-1990s, China’s emissions were relatively low, and its economy much smaller. Also, at that time, its historical emission footprint was extremely small compared to the US or Europe. However, since 2006, China is the world’s biggest emitter, and has also grown to become the second largest economy.

Podesta, the senior advisor to the US President, said China should take bigger responsibility when it submits its renewed climate action plan next year.

“As the world’s largest emitter, they have an obligation to come forward with a 1.5 degree (Celsius) aligned economy-wide NDC (Nationally Determined Contribution) next year… It is incumbent on them, that if we are going to keep 1.5 degree within reach, they come forward with real reductions. They have an important role to play, and we hope that they play,” Podesta said.