CURRENT CONTEXT ): At the Rio BRICS Summit, the member nations condemned and rejected the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), calling it a unilateral, discriminatory trade barrier.
ABOUT CBAM:
- Definition: EU’s carbon border tax designed to equalise carbon pricing on imports to avoid carbon leakage and incentivise low-carbon production.
- Implementation timeline: Transitions between 2023–25; fully enforceable from 2026.
- BRICS objection: Claims CBAM is protectionist, undermines global trade, and hampers developing countries’ cleaner transitions without financial assistance.