The move is directed squarely at the European Union, which, by next year, is planning to implement two laws that would impose fees on the import of goods that have high climate costs, whether through carbon emissions or deforestation.
A spokesperson for the United Nations’ climate body confirmed it had received China’s agenda submission.
Because COP29’s agenda must be agreed upon by consensus, each new submission for a discussion item threatens to mire the talks in a prolonged squabble, leaving less time to hammer out a resolution that, while nonbinding, would reflect a set of objectives shared by all participating countries.
EU representatives have argued in the past that trade issues belong at annual meetings of the World Trade Organisation, even if trade and climate are closely linked. EU countries already pay carbon taxes, and the 27-country-body says it is pushing through measures to prevent its industries from being undercut by cheaper imports that don’t adhere to their standards on emissions reductions.New EU tariffs of up to 45.3% on Chinese electric-vehicle imports also came into effect last week, prompting China’s commerce industry to file a lawsuit on Monday with the WTO.COP29’s agenda is expected to largely focus on what rich countries, whose carbon-intensive development has fueled climate change, owe poorer ones that are more vulnerable to climate change’s effects.
That discussion is tricky enough, particularly on the question of which countries fall into which category. Western delegations have argued that the likes of China and Saudi Arabia must join the list of accountable donor countries, given their large economies and global influence.
Those countries, on the other hand, have argued that it is unfair they be asked to move so much faster than the United States and Europe, which pumped huge volumes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere for more than a century.
That reasoning was evident in China’s submission, a copy of which was reviewed by The New York Times. It said that “unilateral trade-restrictive measures adopted by developed country Parties under the guise of climate objectives represent a systemic concern with disproportionate adverse effects on developing country Parties.”
“Concerning trends towards unilateralism, trade protectionism and fragmentation of international cooperation jeopardizes trust and, consequently, ambitious climate action,” it continued.
Neither Chinese President Xi Jinping nor European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen is expected to attend COP29, nor are many of the world’s most prominent leaders, including those from the U.S., France, India, Brazil, Japan, Mexico and Britain. Many will instead be at the Group of 20 meetings in Rio de Janeiro that partly overlap with the second week of the climate negotiations.
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