Leveraging trade policy to increase climate ambition

7 Actions for the G7 to Advance Climate-Aligned Trade

Our mission

The Consortium for Climate-Aligned Trade seeks to harness the power of trade policy to accelerate climate action, grow the global economy, and strengthen international cooperation.

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About Us

The Consortium for Climate Aligned Trade (CCAT) is an informal coalition of researchers and think tanks in the G7 community. These researchers bring extensive expertise in climate and trade policies. CCAT members understand  meeting global climate goals will depend in significant part on whether trade policy helps rapidly decarbonize energy intensive industrial sectors, such as steel, aluminum, chemicals, fertilizers, and cement. Climate-aligned trade rules are needed to accelerate climate solutions in these sectors by promoting innovation, reducing costs, and stimulating demand for clean goods. Smart climate and trade policies are also needed to accelerate markets for green goods, minimize carbon leakage, and increase climate ambition. Carbon leakage—the shifting of greenhouse gas emissions from one country to another—risks undermining the effectiveness of climate policies, distorting trade, and harming companies, workers, and communities. The Consortium is facilitated by Climate Advisers, a US-based policy, analysis, and communications firm working to strengthen global climate action. CCAT is supported by philanthropic grants, including from Breakthrough Energy. 

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Our Members

Some of the research centers listed above do not adopt organization-wide policy positions. Inclusion of their logos should be understood as conveying the endorsement of the specific scholars who participate in CCAT

Our Principles

All CCAT members support the following guiding principles.

Climate change is a major global threat that requires urgent action.
Meeting international science-based goals to limit global warming will require rapid decarbonization of the global economy, including in the industrial sectors such as steel, aluminum, hydrogen, fertilizer, chemicals, cement and more.

Aligning trade policy—at the national, regional, and global levels—with climate goals is essential for climate progress, particularly in the industrial sector.

A. Uncoordinated approaches could result in carbon leakage—the mere shifting of climate emissions from one country or region to another in ways that undermine environmental policies while also harming the economy, workers, and communities.
B. Trade-related climate policies, such as green subsidies and procurement, for example, also have a vital role to play in stimulating markets for green goods and greater coordination is needed to increase the ambition and benefits of these policies.
Policymakers should devote more attention to aligning trade and climate policies as international trade accounts for 25% of global greenhouse gas emission and new efforts should begin with the industrial sectors.
The primary goal of trade-related climate policies should be to reduce the embodied emissions or emissions intensity of traded goods.
International efforts to gather, share, and analyze data about emissions embodied in traded goods should be accelerated to fill gaps and improve transparency, as should work to help make national and regional definitions, methods, and standards interoperable.
Although a global approach to climate-aligned trade is both necessary and desirable, in the meantime greater coordination among smaller groups of countries, such as G7 members, can facilitate the emergence of workable policy solutions and minimize trade conflict.
Progress on all these fronts can and should occur without undermining the global rules-based approach to trade.
Although a global approach to climate-aligned trade is both necessary and desirable, in the meantime greater coordination among smaller groups of countries, such as G7 members, can facilitate the emergence of workable policy solutions and minimize trade conflict.
Learn more

Our Principles

All CCAT members support the following guiding principles.

Aligning trade policy—at the national, regional, and global levels—with climate goals is essential for climate progress, particularly in the industrial sector.

A. Uncoordinated approaches could result in carbon leakage—the mere shifting of climate emissions from one country or region to another in ways that undermine environmental policies while also harming the economy, workers, and communities.
B. Trade-related climate policies, such as green subsidies and procurement, for example, also have a vital role to play in stimulating markets for green goods and greater coordination is needed to increase the ambition and benefits of these policies.
Policymakers should devote more attention to aligning trade and climate policies as international trade accounts for 25% of global greenhouse gas emission and new efforts should begin with the industrial sectors.
The primary goal of trade-related climate policies should be to reduce the embodied emissions or emissions intensity of traded goods.
International efforts to gather, share, and analyze data about emissions embodied in traded goods should be accelerated to fill gaps and improve transparency, as should work to help make national and regional definitions, methods, and standards interoperable.
Although a global approach to climate-aligned trade is both necessary and desirable, in the meantime greater coordination among smaller groups of countries, such as G7 members, can facilitate the emergence of workable policy solutions and minimize trade conflict.
Progress on all these fronts can and should occur without undermining the global rules-based approach to trade.
Although a global approach to climate-aligned trade is both necessary and desirable, in the meantime greater coordination among smaller groups of countries, such as G7 members, can facilitate the emergence of workable policy solutions and minimize trade conflict.
Learn more

1.

Climate change is a major global threat that requires urgent action.

2.

Meeting international science-based goals to limit global warming will require rapid decarbonization of the global economy, including in the industrial sectors such as steel, aluminum, hydrogen, fertilizer, chemicals, cement and more.

3.

Aligning trade policy—at the national, regional, and global levels—with climate goals is essential for climate progress, particularly in the industrial sector.

4.

Policymakers should devote more attention to aligning trade and climate policies as international trade accounts for 25% of global greenhouse gas emission and new efforts should begin with the industrial sectors.

5.

The primary goal of trade-related climate policies should be to reduce the embodied emissions or emissions intensity of traded goods.

6.

International efforts to gather, share, and analyze data about emissions embodied in traded goods should be accelerated to fill gaps and improve transparency, as should work to help make national and regional definitions, methods, and standards interoperable.

7.

Although a global approach to climate-aligned trade is both necessary and desirable, in the meantime greater coordination among smaller groups of countries, such as G7 members, can facilitate the emergence of workable policy solutions and minimize trade conflict.

8.

Progress on all these fronts can and should occur without undermining the global rules-based approach to trade.

Our Principles

1.

Climate change is a major global threat that requires urgent action.

2.

Meeting international science-based goals to limit global warming will require rapid decarbonization of the global economy, including in the industrial sectors such as steel, aluminum, hydrogen, fertilizer, chemicals, cement and more.

3.

Aligning trade policy—at the national, regional, and global levels—with climate goals is essential for climate progress, particularly in the industrial sector.

4.

Policymakers should devote more attention to aligning trade and climate policies as international trade accounts for 25% of global greenhouse gas emission and new efforts should begin with the industrial sectors.

5.

The primary goal of trade-related climate policies should be to reduce the embodied emissions or emissions intensity of traded goods.

6.

International efforts to gather, share, and analyze data about emissions embodied in traded goods should be accelerated to fill gaps and improve transparency, as should work to help make national and regional definitions, methods, and standards interoperable.

7.

Although a global approach to climate-aligned trade is both necessary and desirable, in the meantime greater coordination among smaller groups of countries, such as G7 members, can facilitate the emergence of workable policy solutions and minimize trade conflict.

8.

Progress on all these fronts can and should occur without undermining the global rules-based approach to trade.

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