IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v161y2022ics0301421521004626.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A simple fix for carbon leakage? Assessing the environmental effectiveness of the EU carbon border adjustment

Author

Listed:
  • Mörsdorf, George

Abstract

As part of its ambitious European Green Deal package, which aims to accelerate the EU's transition to climate neutrality, the European Commission has proposed a “carbon border adjustment mechanism” to address the risk of carbon leakage. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the measure, this study models and compares three versions of a carbon border adjustment in a Computable General Equilibrium framework. The analysis shows that the Commission's proposal, which does not cover indirect emissions and is limited to imports, would reduce carbon leakage to a similar extent (by around one third) as the current free allocation system, which it would replace. However, it would generate substantial revenues (of up to 32 bn USD annually) that could be used to support low-carbon innovation and international climate finance. The analysis also shows that alternative versions of the carbon border adjustment, which would cover indirect emissions and grant export rebates on carbon costs, would further increase the measure's effectiveness; but that these gains should be weighed against the legal and political risks incurred.

Suggested Citation

  • Mörsdorf, George, 2022. "A simple fix for carbon leakage? Assessing the environmental effectiveness of the EU carbon border adjustment," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:161:y:2022:i:c:s0301421521004626
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2021.112596
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421521004626
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2021.112596?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Christoph Böhringer & Jared C. Carbone & Thomas F. Rutherford, 2016. "The Strategic Value of Carbon Tariffs," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 8(1), pages 28-51, February.
    2. Clemens Fuest & Jean Pisani-Ferry, 2020. "Financing the European Union- New Context, New Responses," Policy Contributions 38108, Bruegel.
    3. Roland Ismer & Karsten Neuhoff & Alice Pirlot, 2020. "Border Carbon Adjustments and Alternative Measures for the EU ETS: An Evaluation," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1855, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    4. Naegele, Helene & Zaklan, Aleksandar, 2019. "Does the EU ETS cause carbon leakage in European manufacturing?," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 93, pages 125-147.
    5. Christoph Böhringer & Jared C. Carbone & Thomas F. Rutherford, 2012. "Efficiency and Equity Implications of Alternative Instruments to Reduce Carbon Leakage," Working Papers V-346-12, University of Oldenburg, Department of Economics, revised Jun 2012.
    6. Branger, Frédéric & Quirion, Philippe, 2014. "Would border carbon adjustments prevent carbon leakage and heavy industry competitiveness losses? Insights from a meta-analysis of recent economic studies," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 29-39.
    7. Böhringer, Christoph & Carbone, Jared C. & Rutherford, Thomas F., 2012. "Unilateral climate policy design: Efficiency and equity implications of alternative instruments to reduce carbon leakage," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(S2), pages 208-217.
    8. Paul T E Cusack, 2020. "On Pain," Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research, Biomedical Research Network+, LLC, vol. 31(3), pages 24253-24254, October.
    9. Antoine Dechezleprêtre & Misato Sato, 2017. "The Impacts of Environmental Regulations on Competitiveness," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 11(2), pages 183-206.
    10. Jared C. Carbone & Nicholas Rivers, 2017. "The Impacts of Unilateral Climate Policy on Competitiveness: Evidence From Computable General Equilibrium Models," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 11(1), pages 24-42.
    11. Hoel, Michael, 1996. "Should a carbon tax be differentiated across sectors?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 17-32, January.
    12. Simone Tagliapietra & Guntram B. Wolff, 2021. "Form a climate club: United States, European Union and China," Nature, Nature, vol. 591(7851), pages 526-528, March.
    13. Bierbrauer, Felix & Felbermayr, Gabriel & Ockenfels, Axel & Schmidt, Klaus M. & Südekum, Jens, 2021. "A CO2-border adjustment mechanism as a building block of a climate club," Kiel Policy Brief 151, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    14. Böhringer, Christoph & Balistreri, Edward J. & Rutherford, Thomas F., 2012. "The role of border carbon adjustment in unilateral climate policy: Overview of an Energy Modeling Forum study (EMF 29)," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(S2), pages 97-110.
    15. Ben McWilliams & Georg Zachmann, 2020. "A European carbon border tax- much pain, little gain," Policy Contributions 35218, Bruegel.
    16. Monjon, Stéphanie & Quirion, Philippe, 2011. "Addressing leakage in the EU ETS: Border adjustment or output-based allocation?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(11), pages 1957-1971, September.
    17. Bednar-Friedl, Birgit & Schinko, Thomas & Steininger, Karl W., 2012. "The relevance of process emissions for carbon leakage: A comparison of unilateral climate policy options with and without border carbon adjustment," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(S2), pages 168-180.
    18. Lessmann, Kai & Marschinski, Robert & Edenhofer, Ottmar, 2009. "The effects of tariffs on coalition formation in a dynamic global warming game," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 641-649, May.
    19. repec:dau:papers:123456789/7346 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Aaron Cosbey & Susanne Droege & Carolyn Fischer & Clayton Munnings, 2019. "Developing Guidance for Implementing Border Carbon Adjustments: Lessons, Cautions, and Research Needs from the Literature," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 13(1), pages 3-22.
    21. James R. MARKUSEN, 2021. "International Externalities And Optimal Tax Structures," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: BROADENING TRADE THEORY Incorporating Market Realities into Traditional Models, chapter 16, pages 341-355, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    22. Burniaux, Jean-Marc & Truong Truong, 2002. "GTAP-E: An Energy-Environmental Version of the GTAP Model," GTAP Technical Papers 923, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University.
    23. Henrik Horn & André Sapir, 2013. "Can border carbon taxes fit into the global trade regime?," Policy Briefs 805, Bruegel.
    24. Burniaux, Jean-March & Truong, Truong P., 2002. "Gtap-E: An Energy-Environmental Version Of The Gtap Model," Technical Papers 28705, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    25. Hertel, Thomas, 1997. "Global Trade Analysis: Modeling and applications," GTAP Books, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University, number 7685, December.
    26. Angel Aguiar & Maksym Chepeliev & Erwin L. Corong & Robert McDougall & Dominique van der Mensbrugghe, 2019. "The GTAP Data Base: Version 10," Journal of Global Economic Analysis, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University, vol. 4(1), pages 1-27, June.
    27. William Nordhaus, 2015. "Climate Clubs: Overcoming Free-Riding in International Climate Policy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(4), pages 1339-1370, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. George Mörsdorf, 2021. "A Simple Fix for Carbon Leakage? Assessing the Environmental Effectiveness of the EU Carbon Border Adjustment," ifo Working Paper Series 350, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    2. Jakob, Michael, 2021. "Climate policy and international trade – A critical appraisal of the literature," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    3. Clora, Francesco & Yu, Wusheng & Corong, Erwin, 2023. "Alternative carbon border adjustment mechanisms in the European Union and international responses: Aggregate and within-coalition results," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    4. Susanne Droege & Carolyn Fischer, 2020. "Pricing Carbon at the Border: Key Questions for the EU," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 18(01), pages 30-34, April.
    5. Perdana, Sigit & Vielle, Marc, 2022. "Making the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism acceptable and climate friendly for least developed countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    6. Garnadt, Niklas & Grimm, Veronika & Reuter, Wolf Heinrich, 2020. "Carbon adjustment mechanisms: Empirics, design and caveats," Working Papers 11/2020, German Council of Economic Experts / Sachverständigenrat zur Begutachtung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung.
    7. Clora, Francesco & Yu, Wusheng, 2022. "GHG emissions, trade balance, and carbon leakage: Insights from modeling thirty-one European decarbonization pathways towards 2050," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    8. Beck, Ulrik R. & Kruse-Andersen, Peter K. & Stewart, Louis B., 2023. "Carbon leakage in a small open economy: The importance of international climate policies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    9. Flavio Tosi Feijó, 2018. "Brazilian Competitiveness Of Energy-Intensive And Trade-Exposed Industrial Sectors Vis-À-Vis The Adoption Of Border Carbon Adjustments By The Eu: An Approach Using The Gtap-Ep Model," Anais do XLIV Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 44th Brazilian Economics Meeting] 100, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics].
    10. Florian Rey & Thierry Madiès, 2021. "Addressing the concerns about carbon leakage in the implementation of carbon pricing policies: a focus on the issue of competitiveness," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 48(1), pages 53-75, March.
    11. Branger, Frédéric & Quirion, Philippe, 2014. "Would border carbon adjustments prevent carbon leakage and heavy industry competitiveness losses? Insights from a meta-analysis of recent economic studies," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 29-39.
    12. Bellora, Cecilia, 2020. "Carbon Border Adjustment and Alternatives," Conference papers 333210, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    13. Aliénor Cameron & Marc Baudry, 2023. "The case for carbon leakage and border adjustments: where do economists stand?," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 25(3), pages 435-469, July.
    14. Miria A. Pigato, 2019. "Fiscal Policies for Development and Climate Action," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 31051.
    15. Zhong, Jiarui & Pei, Jiansuo, 2022. "Beggar thy neighbor? On the competitiveness and welfare impacts of the EU's proposed carbon border adjustment mechanism," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    16. Böhringer, Christoph & Rosendahl, Knut Einar & Storrøsten, Halvor Briseid, 2017. "Robust policies to mitigate carbon leakage," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 35-46.
    17. Sakai, Marco & Barrett, John, 2016. "Border carbon adjustments: Addressing emissions embodied in trade," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 102-110.
    18. Michael A. Mehling, 2023. "Supply-side offset crediting to manage climate policy spillover effects," Working Papers EPRG2313, Energy Policy Research Group, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
    19. Mehling, M. A., 2023. "Supply-Side Crediting to Manage Climate Policy Spillover Effects," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2345, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    20. Ambec, Stefan & Esposito, Federico & Pacelli, Antonia, 2024. "The economics of carbon leakage mitigation policies," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:161:y:2022:i:c:s0301421521004626. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.