Ministry of Ecology and Environment responds to EU "carbon tariff": avoid taking unilateral actions

　　China News Service, Beijing, February 26 (Reporter Ruan Yulin) Zhao Yingmin, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China, stated at the State Council Policy Regular Briefing held by the State Council Information Office on the 26th that the EU carbon border adjustment mechanism is a unilateral measure. It has attracted great attention from countries around the world, especially developing countries.

Global climate governance must fully respect the national conditions and capability base of different countries and avoid taking unilateral actions.

　　According to the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), the EU will impose taxes (the so-called "carbon tariffs") on commodities such as steel, cement, aluminum and fertilizers imported from countries and regions with relatively loose carbon emission restrictions.

According to the EU CBAM Act, the transition period will begin on October 1, 2023 and will end at the end of 2025.

From 2026, carbon tariffs will be officially levied on related products imported into the EU.

　　Zhao Yingmin said that we believe that global climate governance should adhere to the principles that the international community has long reached consensus on, such as fairness, common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, and fully understand the different historical responsibilities and different development stages of developing and developed countries. Respect the "bottom-up" institutional arrangement of nationally determined contributions, fully respect the national conditions and capability base of different countries, reach a broad consensus on global carbon market cooperation through negotiations on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, and avoid taking unilateral actions , to reduce unnecessary negative spillover effects on countries outside the region.

　　"Article 6 of the Paris Agreement provides important guidance for the international community to carry out global cross-border carbon trading. At present, the international community has not reached a consensus." Zhao Yingmin said, but this is the right way for the international community to jointly respond to climate change.

We believe that we should strengthen communication under multilateral mechanisms and strive to reach an agreement on relevant issues as soon as possible, so as to promote global carbon emission reduction.

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