During a press conference on Tuesday, White House senior advisor John Podesta announced the formation of a new trade task group by the United States aimed at reducing carbon emissions from global commerce and industry.
The task group will focus on addressing carbon leakage, carbon dumping, and emissions from upstream industry and production, as stated by Podesta during an event at Columbia University in New York City.
This initiative comes as the United States endeavors to bolster domestic deployment of renewable energy technologies and manufacturing in response to heightened competition from China.
“Global trading rules incentivize carbon leakage – when manufacturing-related emissions from a country with stronger climate policies shift to a country with weaker policies,” said Podesta, the incoming U.S. climate change diplomat.
The task force will also ensure that carbon emissions data is available for the implementation of US climate and trade policies, including steps to promote common measurement and high standards for life cycle emissions, he said, emphasising that the group will deepen its dialogue with the United Kingdom, Australia, the European Union, and other global partners and allies.
“We will work closely with trade partners to develop standardized and authoritative ways of measuring embodied emissions so that each country can harness comparative advantages in clean manufacturing,” he said, referencing the emissions generated from the production to the delivery of a good.
Podesta will succeed John Kerry as the United States’ top climate envoy.
Source: Energy Ghana