Strengthening EU Environmental Law:
Legal Perspectives on Greening Europe
The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism: Encouragement of Cleaner Industries across the World?
The United Nations Secretary General António Guterres, described the state of Climate change in no uncertain terms as: “[…] a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator”. Substantial differences in national climate ambitions can give rise to carbon leakage. Approaches to prevent carbon leakage often include free allocation of emission rights to Energy Intensive and Trade Exposed industries, but such support schemes may do little to incentivize sectors to decarbonize.
The EU’s new Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) puts a price on the carbon emitted during the production of carbon-intensive goods that are entering the EU. As such, it encourages cleaner industrial production in non-EU countries. The CBAM covers cement, iron and steel, aluminium, fertilisers, electricity and hydrogen. After a transition period starting in October 2023, the system will commence full operation in January 2026. The gradual introduction of the CBAM is aligned with the phase-out of the allocation of free allowances under the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) to support the decarbonisation of EU industry.
The lecture will give a brief overview of the CBAM and the underlying reasons why it is introduced. It will also examine how countries are affected, how they react to it and how the CBAM affects non-EU countries.
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Speaker
Prof. Stefan E. Weishaar
Stefan E. Weishaar is Professor of Law and Economics at Groningen University. Stefan has a keen interest in the working of markets and regulatory instruments. His work covers several law and economics domains in the areas of Climate & Energy law, Competition law, Procurement law and Market integration. His research frequently employs a comparative law perspective. He is research affiliate at MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research in Boston (USA) and Adjunct Professor at the School of Law and Economics at China University of Political Science and Law. Stefan has been appointed to the UN Subcommittee on Environmental Taxation which, among others, addresses the relation between Carbon Boarder Adjustment Mechanisms and developing countries.
Environmental Law Lecture Series
This lecture is part of the Environmental Law Lecture Series: Strengthening EU Environmental Law, Legal Perspectives on Greening Europe series. This series provides a set of important insights from environmental law scholars on how EU environmental law helps to achieve the aim of a high level of environmental protection in the European Union and across the world.
With the European Green Deal from 11 December 2019 the European Commission tabled an ambitious legislative program, based on fundamental aims such as zero pollution, do no harm, and climate neutrality. Many legal developments took place and are still on-going, both at the European and national regulatory levels as in the courtroom, including the national courts. While efforts to protect the environment are direly needed, including effective implementation and enforcement, the regulatory acquis, and the flow of case law, has become utterly complex which poses challenges for acquiring a good understanding and application.
This freely accessible online (and hybrid) lecture series provides students and scholars with core insights in the state of affairs and further improvement of EU environmental law. The lecture series will run in 2023 and 2024. All lectures will be recorded and will be made accessible through our YouTube channel.
This GreenDeal-Net lecture series is hosted by MCEL, METRO and organised in cooperation with GLaw-Net and GreenDeal-NET. Maastricht University students will be eligible for certificates of attendance (see more information under the registration link).