Environment ministers from across the European Union met in France on Thursday to discuss climate policy and the merits of a carbon border tax, as well as disputes over whether nuclear energy can be considered as “green.”
The two-day informal talks in Amiens, which will be hosted by France as it assumes the rotating EU presidency, will seek to find a single path toward the EU’s ambitious goal of cutting carbon emissions by 55 percent from 1990 levels.
The already tense debate about reforming the EU’s electricity market and carbon trading system is taking place against the backdrop of substantial increases in energy prices, particularly natural gas.
On Friday, EU energy ministers will enter the fray, and then separate negotiations will take place.
Since last year, French President Emmanuel Macron has pushed for the quick implementation of a “carbon border adjustment mechanism,” which is essentially a levy on imported goods created in countries with laxer carbon-reduction regulations.
The goal is to avoid “carbon leakage,” or the transfer of carbon emissions from Europe to other countries while they are decreased at home.
Steel, aluminum, cement, fertilizer, and energy are among the industries affected.
China and the US are both opposed to such a tax, with Beijing claiming that it would “contravene World Trade Organization (WTO) norms” when the plan was announced last year.
