評論
打印
Finance & economics
財經版塊
Carbon levies
碳稅
C-BAM!
嘭! 碳打擊。
Green trade restrictions will clobber developing countries.
綠色貿易限制將沉重打擊發展中國家。
When aid donors helped fund the Mozal aluminium smelter in Mozambique, the goal was to help that southern African country build up its economy after a civil war.
當援助金捐贈者幫忙資助莫桑比克的莫扎爾鋁冶煉廠時，他們的目標是幫助這個非洲南部國家在內戰后建設經濟。
In a country with income per head of just over $600, the Mozal smelter is the largest industrial employer.
在這個人均收入僅為600多美元的國家，莫扎爾冶煉廠是最大的工業雇主。
Yet now the lofty aim to help poor countries grow risks falling foul of rich countries’ urge to decarbonise their economies and protect domestic manufacturing.
然而，如今幫助窮國發展的崇高目標有可能與富國實現經濟脫碳和保護國內制造業的迫切愿望發生沖突。
More than half of Mozambique’s aluminium exports head to the EU.
莫桑比克一半以上的出口鋁流向歐盟。
From 2026 the bloc’s importers of the metal will have to pay a levy under its carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), a scheme designed to ensure that certain energy-intensive imports to the EU pay the same carbon price as industry within it.
從2026年起，根據歐盟碳邊境調整機制（CBAM）的要求，歐盟鋁進口商將必須繳納稅款，該機制旨在確保進入歐盟的某些能源密集型進口產品與歐盟內部的工業支付相同的碳價格。
At present CBAM is at a pilot stage in which importers have to submit reports on the embedded carbon in their imports, but do not yet have to buy permits.
目前，CBAM處于試點階段，進口商必須提交其進口產品中碳嵌入的報告，但目前尚不需要購買許可證。
Eventually they will have to pay the difference between any carbon price paid at home and the cost of a permit in the EU’s own emissions-trading system (ETS), currently priced at ?62 ($68) per tonne of carbon-dioxide equivalent.
最終，進口商將必須支付國內碳價格與歐盟排放貿易體系（ETS）的許可證價格之間的差價，目前許可證的價格為每噸二氧化碳等同物62歐元（68美元）。
The levy pits the development of poorer countries’ industrial capacity against the EU’s decarbonisation goals.
該征稅措施使較貧窮國家的工業產能發展與歐盟的脫碳目標相對立。
The scheme is linked to the removal of free emissions allowances for heavy industry in the ETS.
該征稅計劃與取消ETS中重工業免費排放配額有關。
CBAM seeks to prevent “carbon leakage”: businesses will no longer gain a competitive advantage from importing goods from outside the bloc that do not pay a carbon price, or from moving production elsewhere.
CBAM旨在防止“碳泄漏”：企業將不再從進口來自歐盟以外、不支付碳價的商品，或從將生產轉移到其他地方而獲得競爭優勢。
Poorer economies object that such measures are unfair trade barriers that put the onus of decarbonisation on countries that have contributed little to the problem.
較貧窮的經濟體反對這些措施，認為這些措施是不公平的貿易壁壘，把脫碳的責任推給了那些與造成碳排放沒有太大關系的國家。
South Africa and India, among others, are considering complaints to the World Trade Organisation about CBAM.
南非和印度等國正在考慮向世界貿易組織投訴CBAM。
CBAM is just one way in which European environmentalism is extending its reach.
CBAM只是歐洲環保主義擴大其影響范圍的方式之一。
Exporters will eventually have to contend with a deforestation directive, under which firms must prove their products were not produced on land that was forest before 2021, and a corporate-sustainability directive, forcing businesses to disclose emissions through their supply chains.
出口商最終還將必須應對一項森林砍伐指令，根據該指令，企業必須證明其產品不是在2021年之前為森林的土地上生產的，還必須應對一項企業可持續發展指令，該指令迫使企業披露其供應鏈中的排放情況。
In aggregate, the hit to poorer countries from CBAM is small.
總的來說，CBAM對較貧窮國家的打擊較小。
A study by the African Climate Foundation and the LSE Firoz Lalji Institute estimates that the scheme would lower African GDP by just 0.91%, as most of the affected goods would find their way to other markets.
非洲氣候基金會和倫敦政治經濟學院費羅茲·拉吉研究所的一項研究估計，CBAM只會使非洲國內生產總值下降0.91%，因為大多數受影響的商品將會想辦法進入其他市場。
Yet some countries would be hit hard.
然而，一些國家將受到沉重打擊。
Around 90% of Zimbabwe’s iron and steel exports, for instance, go to the EU.
例如，津巴布韋約90%的鋼鐵出口流向歐盟。
A World Bank study suggests that India, Russia and Ukraine are likely to have the greatest exposure, based on a combination of the carbon-intensity of their exports and their dependence on trade with the EU.
世界銀行的一項研究表明，根據出口產品的碳密集度以及對歐盟貿易的依賴程度，印度、俄羅斯和烏克蘭可能受到的影響最大。
Carbon border taxes are not limited to the EU.
碳邊境稅并不局限于歐盟。
Britain and Australia are among those considering something similar.
英國和澳大利亞也在考慮類似措施。
Several proposals for such taxes are making their way through America’s Congress.
有幾項類似的稅收提案正在美國國會通過。
A proposed Foreign Pollution Fee Act would make importers pay a fee based on the difference between the average carbon intensity of a product made in the exporting country and in America.
一項擬議的《外國污染費法案》將要求進口商根據出口國生產產品的平均碳密集度與美國生產產品的平均碳密集度之間的差額來支付費用。
Another, known as the Clean Competition Act, would combine a carbon border adjustment with a domestic price.
另一項名為《清潔競爭法案》的提案將把碳邊境調整與國內價格結合起來。
Poorer countries argue that CBAM and the like fail to account for the requirement under the Paris climate-change agreement for rich countries to do more to decarbonise than poor ones.
較貧窮國家認為，CBAM之類的措施沒有考慮到《巴黎氣候變化協定》要求富裕國家在脫碳方面要比貧窮國家出力更多。
The logic for this is that carbon is a production input that should be priced differently in different contexts.
這種要求的邏輯在于，碳是一種生產投入，在不同的情況下應該有不同的定價。
An aluminium smelter in Sweden ought to pay a higher price than one in Mozambique, as Swedes have already used up more of the world’s carbon budget.
瑞典的鋁冶煉廠應該比莫桑比克的鋁冶煉廠支付更高的價格，因為瑞典人已經消耗了世界上更多的碳預算。
The EU is still wondering how to respond to poorer countries’ criticisms.
歐盟仍在思考如何回應較貧窮國家的批評。
Pascal Lamy, a former EU trade commissioner, has suggested a bespoke aid package for Mozambique.
前歐盟委員會貿易專員帕斯卡爾·拉米已建議為莫桑比克提供定制的援助計劃。
The country relies heavily on low-carbon hydroelectric power, but the Mozal smelter must import electricity through South Africa’s coal-heavy grid.
莫桑比克嚴重依賴低碳的水電，但莫扎爾冶煉廠必須通過以煤炭為主的南非電網進口電力。
European development assistance could be used to ensure that Mozal is CBAM-compliant.
歐洲發展援助可用于確保莫扎爾符合CBAM標準。
Another option may be to recycle a portion of the revenues into international climate finance.
另一個選擇可能是將一部分征稅收入反哺國際氣候融資。
Middle-income countries may just have to cope.
中等收入國家可能只能勉強應付。
Any repatriated revenue will be far smaller than the funding needed to offset the lost trade.
任何反哺的收入都將遠遠不夠去抵消貿易損失的資金。
Some are launching their own emissions-trading systems—such as Turkey, which exports electricity to the EU.
一些國家正在啟動自己的碳排放貿易體系，比如向歐盟出口電力的土耳其。
China recently added steel, aluminium and cement to its own carbon market, mirroring CBAM.
中國最近將鋼鐵、鋁和水泥納入了自己的碳市場，這與CBAM如出一轍。
India, meanwhile, is considering taxing high-carbon exports destined for the EU, keeping for itself revenue that the bloc would otherwise collect.
與此同時，印度正在考慮對運往歐盟的高碳出口產品征稅，將原本由歐盟收取的費用留給自己。
Many Europeans will cheer that outcome, even if they have to pay higher prices.
許多歐洲人會為這一結果歡呼，即使他們不得不支付更高的價格。
Workers in the developing world will not.
但發展中國家的工人卻不會歡呼。
