BELÉM, Brazil — The European Union is under pressure to defend its new carbon tariff scheme as trade tensions swamp this year’s global climate talks.
Long-simmering diplomatic frictions over the upcoming levy are reaching boiling point in the tropical heat of Belém, with some developing countries pushing for the COP30 conference to effectively condemn the bloc’s green trade measures as protectionist.
Trade has taken center stage at this summit, alongside traditional sticking points such as finance, as exporting countries fret over the carbon levy’s looming enforcement on Jan. 1 — together with other new EU policies seeking to combat global deforestation or methane pollution, as well as tariffs on climate-relevant products such as Chinese electric vehicles.
“All parties need to cooperate to avoid unilateral measures that might damage international collaboration,” Liu Zhenmin, China’s climate envoy, told POLITICO on Monday. “The world needs a very climate-friendly environment for investment.”
