Warming Up to Trade? Harnessing International Trade to Support Climate Change Objectives
This study on harnessing international trade to support climate change objectives assesses the following: 1) What are the main policy prescriptions for reducing greenhouse gases that are employed by OECD countries and how do they impact the competi...
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| Format: | Other Environmental Study |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Washington, DC
2012
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2007/06/7840087/warming-up-trade-harnessing-international-trade-support-climate-change-objectives http://hdl.handle.net/10986/7749 |
| Summary: | This study on harnessing international
trade to support climate change objectives assesses the
following: 1) What are the main policy prescriptions for
reducing greenhouse gases that are employed by OECD
countries and how do they impact the competitiveness of
their energy-intensive industries? 2) On account of the
impact on competitiveness, is there is leakage of energy
intensive industries from OECD countries to developing
countries? 3) Under what conditions can one justify trade
measures under the WTO regime? What are the impacts of
levying trade measures on trade flows and emissions? 4) What
are the underlying trade and investment barriers to the use
of clean energy technologies in developing countries? 5) In
addition to tariff and non-tariff barriers, are there other
issues impacting the diffusion of clean energy technologies
in developing countries? 6) Is liberalization of renewable
and clean coal technologies a plausible solution to
assisting developing countries in achieving a low-carbon
growth path? 7) What conditions are necessary for
negotiating a "climate-friendly" package under the
current WTO framework? The key findings and recommendations
of this report include: a) Industrial competitiveness in
Kyoto implementing countries suffers more from energy
efficiency standards than from carbon taxation policies; b)
Industrial competitiveness affected by carbon taxation
policies are often offset by "policy packages"; c)
Some evidence supports leakage of carbon-intensive countries
to developing countries; d) Trade measures can be justified
only under certain conditions; e) The proposed EU
"Kyoto Tariff" may hurt the United States'
trade balance; f) Varied levels of tariffs are impediments
to clean energy technology diffusion in developing countries. |
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