European Roundtable on Climate Change and Sustainable Transition (ERCST) and South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) are organising a virtual South Africa-EU “town hall meeting” on September 22, 2020 on the role that Border Carbon Adjustments (BCAs) may play in addressing asymmetry in climate ambition under the Paris Agreement, with special focus on the plans that the European Union has to examine this option. This activity together with other similar planned “town hall” meetings will feed into a policy paper on the international views on BCA that ERCST will publish in collaboration with its partners.

The European Green Deal has strengthened the level of climate ambition, increasing the asymmetry of climate efforts by aiming to achieve climate neutrality in the European Union by 2050. This raises the question of how to deal with competitive pressure and carbon leakage, pushing BCAs to the front as a possible solution.
Border carbon adjustments (BCAs) aim to alleviate negative effects caused by uneven climate policies by including imports and/or exempting exports. BCAs seek to level the playing field in competitive markets, incentivize trade partners to strengthen their own climate efforts and prevent leakage of carbon emissions to jurisdictions with weaker policies. These objectives can be achieved by a tariff or other fiscal measure applied to imported goods, the extension of regulatory compliance obligations (e.g. ETS) to imports or a tax exemption or regulatory relief for exports.
This virtual town-hall is part of the ERCST project on border carbon adjustment, which is supported by Eurofer, Enel, FuelsEurope, the Government of France, the Government of Germany, HeidelbergCement, MetInvest, and Solvay.
 

Participation in these town halls is by invitation only. If you wish to participate, please contact Dariusz at ddybka@ercst.org

 
Workshop Material(s)
22 September 2020 draft agenda South Africa BCA Townhall
22 September 2020 ERCST presentation South Africa -EU Town Hall 
12 September 2020 SAIIA ERCST press announcement
Upcoming Events

• 2024 State of the EU ETS Report – Launch Event (Public Event)

  May 14 @ 15:00 - 17:00

• 2024 State of the European Hydrogen Market Report – Launch Event (Public Event)

  May 30 @ 15:00 - 17:00

• Navigating Trade-Related Climate Measures

  April 23 @ 14:00 - 15:30

• EU ETS: Carbon Dioxide Removals CDRs – Public Event

  April 23 @ 09:30 - 12:30

• Launch Event: ETS review of Carbon Leakage Risks for CBAM Export Goods

  April 15 @ 15:00 - 17:00