CIOT and IFS Online Debate: Carbon border adjustment – what approach should the UK take?

Wednesday 24 May 2023 | 09:00 - 10:30   Location: Online

The UK government is consulting on how to prevent carbon leakage – that is, how to prevent UK taxes on greenhouse gas emissions simply leading to emissions-generating activities moving abroad. One of the main options up for consideration is a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)– a tax on imports based on their embedded and untaxed carbon content. Should the UK introduce a CBAM? Would it promote fair competition between firms in different countries and help to drive down global carbon emissions?

If the UK adopts a CBAM, how should it be designed? Which products should it apply to, how should untaxed carbon content be measured and how should exports be treated? When would a CBAM risk challenge under international agreements? What other policies need to sit alongside a CBAM to stop carbon leakage?

Join our panel of experts at our next debate online, on Wednesday 24 May 2023 for discussion of these crucial and topical questions.

Michael Keen, Ushioda Fellow at Tokyo College, University of Tokyo and an International Research Fellow at the Institute for Fiscal Studies

Alice Pirlot, Assistant Professor, International Law, Faculty Associate, Centre for Finance and Development, Geneva Graduate Institute 

Jennifer Rowland, Deputy Director for Energy and Transport Tax, HM Treasury

Richard Woolley, Head of Energy and Climate Change, Chemical Industries Association

The event will be chaired by Helen Miller, Deputy Director at the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

You can watch the recording of the event by click on the button below.