these allegations, noting that the proposed charges have been studied by “an army of lawyers” to ensure they comply with the rules of the World Trade Organisation. “I have heard the screams of protectionism but the idea to tax carbon in this way is less and less contested,” she said on Wednesday (26 August). “There’s a growing consensus […] that you need to tax carbon.”
Although Australia has only a few direct imports to the bloc from sectors that would be among the first to face potential costs under the scheme, the idea of carbon tariffs is gaining ground in several parts of the world, including the United States and Asia.
Accordingly, critics of the Morrison government argue that Canberra’s inadequate carbon policies means it is missing an opportunity to engage with its allies and partners regarding this matter. “Australia could shape this discussion and shape where the revenue is going,” The Australia Institute’s director of climate and energy Richard Merzian said, adding that the EU proposal was the worst kind of carbon tax for Australian exporters, since the revenue would flow to the bloc’s efforts to make its domestic companies more globally competitive.
So far, Brussels has announced plans to slash its greenhouse gas emissions by 55 per cent by 2030. According to Dr Malmström, who was the EU’s top trade negotiator between 2014 and 2019, the IPCC report published earlier this month underlined that the extreme weather conditions reported from across the world were created by humanity. Therefore, she called on the most developed economies to accelerate their efforts to minimise the effects of this global crisis.
“The biggest economies and the biggest polluters need to do more. China needs to do much, much more. The US is getting on board. Australia is a big economy and needs to do more,” she said. “It’s not about finding 1 per cent here and 1 per cent there; this is the global crisis, and we don’t have much time.”
