India Opposes Carbon Tax On Imports

(WSJ-Livemint.com)

India has opposed suggestions that countries that have cap-and-trade schemes to control carbon emissions—mostly developed countries—impose a carbon tax on imports from nations that don’t have such measures in place, made at the ongoing global climate talks in Bonn.

“The matter of any unilateral trade measure on imports in the name of climate action raises some concerns regarding the success of our discussions,” Vijay Sharma, secretary, ministry of environment and forests, said in his intervention on Tuesday.

“Such measures would only be tantamount to green protectionism and may burden the affected countries, particularly the developing countries, by subjecting them to similar mitigation obligations as of developed countries without any financial support,” Sharma said.

Developed and developing nations have been locked in a pitched battle over sharing the burden of reducing global carbon emissions, which scientists believe lead to global warming. Read more here.