According to the World Trade Organization (WTO), the CO2 footprint of global trade should be reduced with the help of lower tariffs and more climate-friendly transport of goods. The liberalization of trade in sustainable energy technology and environmentally friendly products could reduce global emissions of the greenhouse gas CO2 by around 0.6 percent, the WTO calculated in this year’s world trade report, which was presented on Monday at the COP27 world climate conference in Egypt. “Trade is one of the missing pieces of the puzzle for more ambitious and effective climate action,” said WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in Sharm el Sheikh.
The report highlighted that the production and transport of export goods is responsible for nearly 30 percent of global CO2 emissions. From the WTO’s point of view, however, the solution is not a return to domestic or regional production with shorter transport routes. According to their calculations, this would reduce emissions slightly, but at the same time cause global economic damage. Instead, states should remove tariffs and bureaucratic trade barriers to enable the global spread of sustainable technologies, it said. Poorer countries, which suffer particularly from global warming, are dependent on imports of climate-resistant crops, weather warning systems and water supply technology.
Standardization of CO2 pricing models
Okonjo-Iweala also called for the almost 70 carbon pricing models currently in use in different countries to be standardized, which the WTO boss believes could lead to trade conflicts. “At this late stage of climate change, we just can’t afford fragmentation,” she said.
The 0.6 percent of possible CO2 savings through liberalization are based on calculations for two narrowly defined product groups. From the point of view of the WTO, the free movement of other ecological goods and services could lead to an even greater reduction. The organization also highlighted the efforts of the logistics industry to switch to more environmentally friendly means of transport. However, the WTO did not calculate the CO2 savings potential of this sector. (dpa)