International Cooperation on Trade Integral to Climate Change Action
PRIME MINISTER the Most Hon. Andrew Holness says international cooperation on trade issues must form a part of the solution to addressing climate change, and not be regarded as the problem.
Mr. Holness noted that against the backdrop of a highly motivated global thrust to address climate change, countries are confronted with three critical challenges in the absence of cooperation on international trade and investment flows.
“Thefirst is that the disparate climate measures taken under the Paris Accord’s Nationally Determined Contributions could be undermined if high carbon intensity goods are produced in unregulated markets and traded freely,” he said.
Mr. Holness said the second consideration is that while border adjustment measures can address excessive production and trade in these goods, “they could devolve into protectionism, if not carefully calibrated to compensate for national measures.”
“The third factor is that the historical contributions to climate change have not been proportional to its deleterious effects, implying that compensation is needed to ensure that all countries, in particular countries like Jamaica, have the necessary resources to mitigate carbon emissions and adapt to climate change,” the Prime Minister added.
He was speaking at the launch of the Climate and Trade Task Force Report at the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Scotland, on November 9.
Mr. Holness said based on the findings, when carbon emissions are properly priced and regulated, producing a greater share of energy-intensive goods in locations with abundant renewable energy sources becomes a key source of comparative advantage.