Environmental Groups Ask Biden Not to Challenge EU's CBAM
The Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Trade Justice Education Fund and two other environmental nonprofits are asking the Biden administration not to challenge the EU's carbon border adjustment mechanism, or CBAM, at the World Trade Organization.
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"[W]e are deeply concerned to see an increasing number of countries threatening to use trade rules to challenge the European Union’s CBAM. These trade threats not only stand to weaken an important EU climate policy, but also serve as a warning sign to other countries -- including the U.S. -- looking to establish similar policies," they wrote in a letter they released publicly Oct. 4.
"With less than a decade to turn the corner on the climate crisis, we cannot afford for governments to act timidly for fear of costly trade challenges or for government policies or policy-making to be slowed or weakened due to threats or filing of trade cases," they said.
They added that coming to an agreement with the EU would be similar to the U.S. and Indian agreement, where the U.S. dropped its case against India for Buy-India solar policies and India dropped its case against U.S. states that privileged locally made panels.
“Recent floods in Libya, fires in Canada and extreme heat across the U.S. are all stark reminders that governments cannot afford to act timidly on climate change for fear that needed policies might not align with outdated trade rules,” said Arthur Stamoulis, executive director of the Trade Justice Education Fund, in a news release publicizing the letter.