France and the European Union (EU) regularly pride themselves on being good students in the fight against climate change, thanks to their proactive policies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions – even if these efforts remain insufficient.
A report made public Monday, November 18 by the consulting firm Carbone 4 and the European Climate Foundation (ECF), consulted by The Worldhighlights a blind spot in the commitment to combat global warming: emissions linked to international trade continue to increase.
Traditionally, a country's GHG emissions are calculated based on the production of goods and services within its territory. This approach misses a crucial question: who are these goods intended for? For example, all emissions induced by the manufacturing in China of a microprocessor that will be sold in France are currently counted in Chinese emissions. This “by inventory” calculation therefore minimizes the responsibility of importing countries.
A quarter of global emissions are thus “imported”, that is to say produced by countries to satisfy the demand of other countries. A subject often put aside in climate negotiations because it affects competitiveness: “During COP21, several participants, including the EU, had a negotiating mandate not to take any measures likely to slow down the development of world trade”write the authors of the report, Richard Baron, Samuel Leré (ECF), César Dugast and Pierre Maquet (Carbone 4).
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This year, the representatives of the G20, gathered in Baku for the 29e United Nations climate conference (COP29), “however, recognize the right to regulate, including for environmental purposes, on this issue of trade and sustainable development”argues Richard Baron, director of the international trade program at ECF.
Adjusting emissions to final consumption
The final consumption approach, also called carbon footprint, adjusts emissions by country according to their trade. The analysis of those linked to imports allows us to know whether a country which, on the surface, is making progress in terms of decarbonization, is not in reality relying on the highly emitting supply chains of its trading partners.
“We Europeans may decarbonize our territory, but we continue to cause emissions in other countries [par] our consumption »notes César Dugast, co-head of the public debate division at Carbone 4.
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