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Swedish governing party threatens US with green trade war

Richard Orange
Richard Orange - [email protected]
Swedish governing party threatens US with green trade war
Green Party leaders Isabella Lövin and Gustav Fridolin. Photo: Erik Simander/TT

Sweden's green party has proposed imposing a climate levy on US goods if the country leaves the Paris Climate Agreement.

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"Countries which are considering not following the Paris Agreement will benefit from an unfair advantage over European goods," the party's joint spokesperson Isabella Lövin said as she unveiled the party's Four Proposals for Global Climate Leadership
 
The United States on August 4th submitted a formal notice to the United Nations conveying its intention to leave the Paris Agreement as soon as it is legally eligible to do so. 
 
But under the 2015 deal, no country can withdraw until three years after the agreement has come into force, so President Trump's threat cannot become reality until November 4th 2019 at the earliest.
 
 
In its proposal, the Green Party said Sweden should work within the European Union to impose so-called Border Carbon Adjustments (BCA) on goods produced in countries which leave the Paris Agreement in all sectors covered by the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). 
 
"When such goods are imported to the EU, they would need to compensate for the non-existent (or too low) price for emissions in the producer country," the party wrote. 
 
"This can be carried out through a levy or through the purchase of emissions credits within the EU's emissions trading system." 
 
The proposal was unveiled by Lövin and her male counterpart Gustav Fridolin in front of an ice sculpture of the party's one-word election slogan: "Now!"
 
The party also proposed a new European Union climate law enforcing emissions limits on member states, a new crisis commission for the global climate which will bring together politicians with scientists and business leaders, and a cross-party agreement in Sweden that all unused emissions credits in the country will in future be automatically cancelled. 
 
During the Green Party's period in coalition government, Sweden has cancelled credits equivalent to 106 million tonnes of emissions, the same amount as Sweden emits in two years.  
 
During its time in government, the party was also crucial in pushing through the so-called 'Swedish proposal' to reform the EU emissions trading scheme, which has contributed to a quadrupling of the price of emissions credits.
 

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Anonymous 2018/12/03 10:57
can someone explain what is meant by “Sweden has cancelled credits equivalent to 106 tonnes of emissions “

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