EU Proposes World's First Carbon Border Tax

WindBourne writes: EU is going to put a slowly increasing carbon tax on their own goods (source paywalled; alternative source) and is now applying that tax to a limited number of imported items, with more to come. It is expected to have an initial impact on goods from China, India, and Russia, but as this expands, it will likely hit other nations. All of these nations are saying that they will protest at the WTO. While the EU is not as large of an importer as say America, this will have an impact on the globe, hopefully, pushing all nations to at least stop increasing -- if not drop -- their emissions. The tax on imports will apply to carbon-intensive steel, aluminum, cement, fertilizers and electricity and will be phased in from 2026. "Under the proposal, a transitional phase from 2023-25 will require importers, including those importing electricity, to monitor and report their emissions," reports Reuters. "Importers will be required to buy digital certificates representing the tonnage of carbon dioxide emissions embedded in the goods they import. The price of the certificates will be based on the average price of permits auctioned each week in the EU carbon market." "If importers can prove, based on verified information from third country producers, that a carbon price has already been paid during the production of the imported goods, the corresponding amount can be deducted from their final bill," the Commission said in a factsheet outlining the policy.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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