摘要
The international fight to cut greenhouse gas emissions is entering a new phase as an increasing number of countries have recently announced major commitments to achieve carbon neutrality within the next few decades.Meanwhile,some developed countries are trying to hedge against the losses associated with emissions reduction by devising self-protective mechanisms.One of the most notable examples is the European Union’s(EU’s)plan to introduce a carbon border adjustment mechanism(CBAM)as early as 2023,imposing a charge on imports of certain products from countries deemed not to be seriously tackling climate change.By investigating how the CBAM has evolved in EU policy making and assessing what the potential implications might be,this paper argues that the CBAM reflects the internal demands of EU climate politics,addresses its practical needs to hedge against the pressure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,and is the inevitable result of transitions in European social and political thought as well as in its party politics.Given the current shift in the public opinion toward carbon border taxes in the United States(US),the policies of developed countries will likely converge on this issue in the foreseeable future,which will jolt the basic framework for global action on climate change and make the situation even grimmer for emerging and developing countries in terms of greenhouse gas emissions reduction.
