Gallagher Coauthors Op-Ed on EU Climate Action and Globally Just Climate Transition
Kevin Gallagher, Professor of Global Development Policy at Boston University’s Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies and Director of the Global Development Policy Center (GDP Center), coauthored a Le Monde op-ed arguing why the European Union (EU) should make its Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) an element of a just transition on a global scale.
Kevin Gallagher wrote the article, titled “‘It is important for the EU to be among the first to lead on climate change,’” with fellow members of the Task Force on Climate, Development, and the International Monetary Fund Xiaobei He, Deputy Director of the Macro & Green Finance Lab, National School of Development at Peking University, and Ma Jun, Director of the Macro & Green Finance Lab. In the piece, the three explain the latest in the EU’s climate toolkit – CBAM – which aims “to prevent offsetting the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction efforts through imports of products manufactured in non-EU countries, where climate change policies are less ambitious than in the European Union.” As the second largest contributor to historical carbon emissions, Gallagher, He, and Jun believe that it is important for the EU to be a premier leader on climate change.
However, there is a tight balancing act at play as the CBAM is not an end-all solution. According to a study by the Task Force on Climate, Development and the International Monetary Fund, income inequality and welfare distribution between rich and poor economies could worsen as the CBAM expands to a broader array of carbon-intensive trade. As the authors argue, “a globally just climate transition must ensure that one community’s climate gains do not translate into development losses for the countries that did little to contribute to the climate crisis in the 1st place.”
NEW op-ed for @LeMonde_EN:
Xiaobei He, @MJ_GreenFinance and I explain why the EU should make its Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (#CBAM) an element of a just transition on a global scale.https://t.co/tXcnpqgPoY
— Kevin P. Gallagher (@KevinPGallagher) February 9, 2023
The full op-ed can be read on Le Monde‘s website.
Kevin Gallagher is a professor of global development policy at Boston University’s Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, where he directs the Global Development Policy Center. He is the author or co-author of numerous books, including most recently, The Case for a New Bretton Woods (Wiley, 2022). Read more about Professor Gallagher on his Pardee School faculty profile.