"BRICS Environment Ministers Collectively Oppose EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism"
CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism)
EU import levy on carbon-intensive goods to prevent carbon leakage and level the competitive playing field with EU ETS-covered producers.
Carbon leakage
relocation of carbon-intensive production to jurisdictions with weaker climate regulations, undermining the environmental gains of stricter domestic carbon pricing.
The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is the European Union's flagship instrument to prevent carbon leakage — the risk that carbon-intensive industries relocate to jurisdictions with weaker climate regulations, thereby nullifying the environmental gains of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). The EU ETS, the world's first and largest mandatory carbon market, operates on a cap-and-trade principle under which covered industries must hold allowances for every tonne of CO₂ emitted. As the ETS progressively phases out free allowances for domestic producers, imported goods from countries without equivalent carbon pricing gain a competitive cost advantage; CBAM is designed to close this gap by imposing a carbon cost at the EU's border.
The normative tension underlying CBAM is the principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR-RC), enshrined in the Rio Declaration (1992) and reaffirmed in the Paris Agreement (2015). Developing countries argue that historical emissions from industrialised nations created the climate crisis, and that imposing equivalent carbon compliance costs on emerging economies — still in active phases of industrial development — violates the equity architecture of international climate law. India's per capita emissions remain well below the global average, reinforcing its consistent position that such measures constitute disguised trade protectionism. The Paris Agreement's Article 6, which provides the multilateral framework for carbon markets and cooperative approaches, remains only partially operationalised, making unilateral mechanisms like CBAM politically charged in the absence of a universally agreed carbon pricing architecture.
CBAM covers six carbon-intensive product categories: iron and steel, aluminium, cement, fertilisers, hydrogen, and electricity. Importers of these goods into the EU must purchase and surrender CBAM certificates tied to the verified carbon emissions embedded in their production. The mechanism entered a transitional reporting-only phase on October 1, 2023, and moved into its definitive phase on January 1, 2026, when financial obligations became fully operative. The certificate price is linked to the prevailing EU ETS carbon price, creating a dynamic and potentially volatile compliance cost for exporters.
India is disproportionately exposed to CBAM. Iron and steel account for roughly 90% of India's EU-bound exports within the CBAM product basket. Empirical analysis indicates that high-emission Indian steel firms began reducing export volumes to the EU even during the reporting phase, suggesting that the compliance burden is already reshaping trade flows before full financial liability kicks in. …
Consider the following statements:
Statement-I:
Recently, the European Parliament approved The Net-Zero Industry Act.
Statement-II:
The European Union intends to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040 and therefore aims to develop all of its own clean technology by that time.
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
Consider the following statements:
Statement I: Article 6 of the Paris Agreement on climate change is frequently discussed in global discussions on sustainable development and climate change.
Statement II: Article 6 of the Paris Agreement on climate change sets out the principles of carbon markets.
Statement III: Article 6 of the Paris Agreement on climate change intends to promote inter-country non-market strategies to reach their climate targets.
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
With reference to 'Global Climate Change Alliance', which of the following statements is/are correct?
1.It is an initiative of the European Union.
2.It provides technical and financial support to targeted developing countries to integrate climate change into their development policies and budgets.
3.It is coordinated by World Resources Institute (WRI) and World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
With reference to the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), consider the following statements:
1.CBAM requires importers to purchase certificates tied to the carbon emissions embedded in their goods.
2.CBAM covers six product categories including iron and steel, aluminium, cement, fertilisers, hydrogen, and electricity.
3.CBAM entered its definitive (financially operative) phase on January 1, 2025.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
The principle of 'Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities' (CBDR-RC) in international climate law was first codified in which of the following?
With reference to Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, consider the following statements:
Statement I: Article 6 sets out the principles governing international carbon markets and cooperative approaches between countries.
Statement II: Article 6 promotes inter-country non-market strategies to help countries reach their climate targets.
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
Which of the following best describes the primary rationale offered by the European Union for introducing the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)?
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