Everyone wants to feel loved , more importantly wants acceptance and to build a mutual understanding , feel that buzz in the air, go for long walks and get lost in hugs. Look at in a trade context, which has to be a 2 way process, but like relationships can’t be defined or named along with them come the compromises which we as coutrities also need to make.

Of cheating, disappointment, getting  ‘traded – up’ and using your ‘protectionist’ measures

making compromises

When you feel like you have taken advantage of , you feel cheated and disappointed is when you start using your protectionist measures and completely block people out of your daily life. While in other cases you could just get “traded- up” for someone supposedly better than you.

Recently one has noticed various interventions by China and India , accusing the annex 1 for having clauses in their ( to be) climate legistations( for US in specific the Waxman Markey Bill)   of charging higher amount of tax or tariff on goods being produced by the countries on the basis of whether they are doing enough to reduce emissions. This is green protectionism

The Big Compromise

For India and China it will have to be a very big compromise, that of  having  higher tariff rates and for the US , the periphery problems of competition and leakage.

The basics of BCA- Border Carbon Adjustment is that it is introduced to create a level playing field between domestic producers and imported goods and it could be done three ways : by making the general product benchmarks for all countries, country specific treatment or company/ plant specific treatment. The idea is that it should reward the efficient producers and provide some incentives to producers to work towards reducing emissions.

This so called tax is called Border carbon adjustment , as in when the good is diffrentiated on the basis of actions of the counrty of where it has orginated and enters the borders of EU. This would make exports costlier for India and China where India is chiefly an export growth led country.Apart from a tax based adjustment one could also start an emissions trading scheme for allowances. It could be on imports or exports; on general products or specific products

Of defining the relationship

defining the relationship

As far as the international standardization is concerned, the ISO is working on it to standardize carbon foot printing (ISO 14067)for a whole product cycle but this is only taking into account the raw material and manufacturing stages and not the sale and resail stages. Since the inspection at the border cannot take place hence the company trades in certificate of emissions which is standardised by the above methodology. The high costs if verification and certification would be a challenge over and above setting up the massive infrastructural and institutional support.

And like in the WTO their is special and prefrential treatment similarly here the US proposes to use country differentiation in trade in basis of the pledges of countries to the Copenhagen Accord.

A study conducted to see the influence of BCA over imports in EU across 164 sectors found that 85% of imports were sensitive to the BCA, and the countries that could be worse effected by this would be the tin and article industry of Bolivia, Iron and steel industry of Argentina and soap industry of China among others. Hence its highly unlikely that EU would impose the BCA in LDCs. The border adjustment will vary accordingly to GHG intensity and trade intensity might demand for them and the adjustment would be targeted for specific sectors.

Why you can’t handle it…

But there are several bottlenecks in trade for developing nations pertaining to the high transaction costs , higher levels of corruption, lack of trust between the public and private sector , requirment of meeting the international standards, rent seeking and high administrative costs which will it make it difficult to make the trade transaction smooth.

What goes around will come around eventually

Life is not fair but it surely is a leveller. No matter what you do what goes around will come around. Maybe after 20 years when India and China will be the hub of green technology, US and EU will have to pay a very dear price for it.Moreover, the US economy will have to fill the gaps created by the policy dissonance with becoming export oriented otherwise the leakages and competition will lead to a downfall in the business activity at home and increase consumption along with the costs of fuel etc.

Only time will tell how the mechanisms will change the global scenario and the relationship among countries and whether it was the “right thing to do”.This is just an attempt at understanding the basics, and to leave the reader with a barrier free crash course to green protectionism and help them to take a stance and decide.

Your choices will reflect your character so make them wisely. Not that the US hasn’t already shown it’s true colours by not signing the kyoto but BCA will make life worse for a lot of Americans eventually.

To date, or not to date? ...And why?

Here with the 12 of our team tracking the delegations here at Bangkok,  I’m really tempted to go out in the evenings after a hard day’s work in the negotiations. I think that after running after 60-year-old negotiators from my country that I require some youthful energy to enthuse the atmosphere!

So the potential dating league involves the guys from the developed countries (a.k.a. the “Annex 1″ countries like the USA, Canada, European Union, Russia, Australia, Japan etc.) and the girls are from India, Brazil, China, South Africa, etc (i.e. the non-Annex 1 – or rather, developing and least developed – countries.)

From the perspective of a Non Annex 1 (Indian) girl, I feel that it would be literally impossible for me to personally find love among my team of 12 (keep in mind, there are no non-Annex 1 guys) due to the following very very STRONG reasons:

1. He is not willing to COMMIT

I was thinking about it. And then, “Leela, I will think about it, but  I have loads of domestic responsibilities (read: girls back home) to undertake,” said the American Tracker. Whereas all the others supported him, obviously, collectively coming to a decision as the European Union, but nevertheless made their individual statements.

Instead they all say: Lets start all over again, lets try and get to know each other! (Read: shift the emissions measuring baseline from the year 1990 to 2005). What is keeping you from committing? Is it the reason that you feel I’ll dominate the relationship in the long run? (Read: I’ll develop more than you over the years?)

2. He takes more   S P A C E   in the relationship

Adam- the Canadian Tracker

He takes more of the space in the relationship (read: has a massively higher proportion of pollution than us) and still demands he needs more space!

This is so totally NOT FAIR!

3. He refuses to FINANCE dinners

Although they have so much more money considering the dollar to baht exchange rate is amazing, they fail to fund my dinners. So I end up paying for myself, but considering that I don’t have the capacity to buy special desserts and exotic cakes, it becomes difficult to try and eat my share! (Read: we can fund local missions like solar but in case we need to scale up activities we require your help!)

4. Hates my mother (Read: Hates the rules imposed on him by the Kyoto Protocol)

Does not agree to any principles and conditions  my Indian mother puts before him, such as getting back earlier than midnight (etc., etc.,) and definitely hates my mother for them! (Read: doesn’t like the conditions imposed and will not ratify them at any cost.)

Florent- The French tracker

My mother is the most special and essential part of my life, how can you neglect her like this? (Read: I have signed onto the Kyoto Protocol and my commitment period is coming to an end not the protocol!)

5. Doesn’t let me use the TV remote or the computer (Read: no transfer of technology)

I am deprived of using any sort of advanced technologies. Do you think that I don’t know how to use them? I come from India , we literally live with software and know the C-to-S of computers.

6. Wouldn’t save me if I fall off a cliff / Earthquakes hits/flash floods take place

Read: We are already losing lives and their inaction on emission reductions could push us over the cliff towards run away climate change. He’s not going to come in a helicopter to save me like a Bollywood movie hero, unfortunately. (Read: countries are already feeling the effects of climate change and the world is not reaching out with enough support for adaptation.)

7. Doesn’t follow through and is indecisive

Read: One second Obama is at the United Nations  high-level summit promising big things… and yet, here in Bangkok there is little to no action to match up with those high remarks. Why do we hear different views all the time?

8. Constantly steals the covers

Is it that they just don’t have any concept of sharing?? And then they go and leave you outside in the cold in the middle of the night.

Andrea the Italian Tracker and Ole the German Tracker

9. Possessive and wants daily reports

Read: They want measurable, reportable and verifiable nationally appropriate emission reductions. Here’s my question: Why do you keep tracking us when you never have an answer to us as to where you are in your own emission reductions?

10. Have such a consumption-oriented lifestyle

Waste most of their money buying goods that they don’t use! We need to shift to a more sustainable lifestyle.

11. Would not make a good father

Read: clearly doesn’t care about protecting the environment for future generations and has no concept of making a better world in general.

… So what do you say, dear Annex 1? Are you willing to change, or not?