The Paris Agreement has set ambitious targets to limit global warming. However, current developments show that voluntary commitments by states are no longer sufficient. Prof. Edenhofer showed how humanity can still manage the limited carbon budget. He considers carbon removal (CDR) to be the missing pillar of climate policy, alongside emission reduction and adaptation measures. In contrast to mitigation measures, active CDR would not increase carbon leakage. Leakage occurs when the reduced consumption of fossil fuels in one country is compensated by other countries as a result of lower prices on the world market. With CDR, the opposite is to be expected: oil exporters would heavily subsidise CDR. Reducing leakage effects could significantly improve international cooperation, according to Prof. Edenhofer.

The EU has taken a pioneering role in international emissions trading. It has installed an important instrument to minimise leakage: the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). This equalisation procedure uses carbon pricing to create an incentive for companies to reduce their own emissions, while at the same time protecting them from imported products that are not subject to carbon pricing. After a transition period, carbon taxes will be levied on imported products from 2026. Non-EU countries are already following the EU's example. Such pricing mechanisms are the only effective instruments of climate policy, as the PIK has analysed (Stechemesser et al. 2024). And they are necessary: according to Edenhofer, the EU is on the right track to achieving its 2030 climate targets, but decarbonisation must continue to be pushed after that.

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Related Articles:

Edenhofer, O. und Kalkuhl, M. (2024): Planetarische Müllabfuhr – Gamechanger der Klimapolitik? Thünen-Vorlesung 2024 25 (3-4), 172-182. doi:10.1515/pwp-2024-0028.

Stechemesser, A., ?Koch, N., ?Mark, E., ?Dilger, E., ?Kl?sel, P., ?Menicacci, L., ?Nachtigall, D., ?Pretis, F., ?Ritter, N., ?Schwarz, M., ?Vossen, H. und Wenzel, A. (2024): Climate policies that achieved major emission reductions: Global evidence from two decades. Science 385 (6711), 884-892. doi:10.1126/science.adl6547.

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