China says CO2 border tax will damage global climate change fight

(Reuters News, 27 Nov 2019) Such a tax would be aimed at protecting European firms from unfair competition by raising the cost of products from countries taking inadequate action against climate change.

New European proposals to launch a "carbon border tax" will damage global efforts to tackle climate change, China said on Wednesday, urging a pushback against climate "protectionism", a week before fresh global climate talks in Madrid.

In October, the EU's new climate commissioner, Frans Timmermans, said research would begin on the new tax, aimed at protecting European firms from unfair competition by raising the cost of products from countries taking inadequate action against climate change.

But a border tax, together with a decision by U.S. President Donald Trump to withdraw from the 2015 Paris agreement, would seriously harm international efforts to tackle global warming, China said in a report on Wednesday, making its first formal comments on the proposals.

"We need to prevent unilateralism and protectionism from hurting global growth expectations and the will of countries to combat climate change together," Zhao Yingmin, China's vice environment minister, told a briefing.

Europe's border tax, part of a proposed "green deal" aimed at making the block "climate-neutral" by 2050, is likely to face scrutiny in the latest round of annual climate negotiations set to begin in Madrid next week.

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Reuters News, 27 Nov 2019: China says CO2 border tax will damage global climate change fight