- While emissions in the EU have dropped by nearly 40 per cent since 1990, imported emissions represented 35 per cent of the bloc’s carbon footprint in 2023, according to the Traded Emissions Tracker by the European Climate Foundation (ECF)
- China is the top source country of imported emissions into the EU with a share of almost 10 percent as China was responsible for 27.2% of global consumption-based greenhouse gas emissions in 2023
- A commitment from the EU to reduce imported emissions would send a clear message to the global business community about the direction of travel, says ECF
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The European Union is ramping up its internal push to lower emissions, but figures from the European Climate Foundation (ECF) and climate consultancy Matiere indicate that 35% of its carbon footprint in 2023 originated outside its borders.
These numbers, which also show that more than a fifth of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions are now connected to cross-border commerce, pose a political dilemma for Brussels, which is pouring resources into cleaning up its industrial sites, energy generation, and transport sector while still relying on imported goods whose manufacturing processes release significant carbon abroad.
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As the ECF’s director of industrial policy and trade, Richard Baron, reminded attendees at an event in Brussels to launch the tracker, the EU’s trade deficit with China stands at a record €1bn a day.
Baron suggested a first step could be for the EU and China to agree on a translation tool to enable them to at least agree on how to measure carbon in products and not to “end up with zillions of labels if we want innovation”.
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In Ireland, Sweden, Austria, Cyprus, Malta, and Spain, imports represented over 40% of the national carbon footprint in 2023, with intra-EU trade excluded from the calculation. Covering 45 major economies between 2010 and 2023, the tracker finds that emissions tied to trade have expanded at a quicker pace than overall global emissions, increasing by 10 percentage points from 1995 to 2023.
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The EU has already taken steps to limit overseas emissions through mechanisms like the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which imposes a carbon levy on selected imports. Under its anti-deforestation regulation, which takes effect on 30 December 2027, Brussels will prohibit imports of goods such as cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, soya, and wood if their production led to deforestation or forest damage.
Although CBAM and the European Union Deforestation Regulation can help weave carbon considerations into trade, the tracker’s developers advocate for broader cooperation with trading partners to achieve substantial progress. Please mention the
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The ECF tracker covers 45 economies and 64 sectors. It shows greenhouse gas emissions linked to international trade growing faster than global emissions by a margin of 10 percentage points between 1995 and 2023. More than one tonne of CO₂e out of every five emitted produces a good or service that will ultimately be consumed in a different country than where it was produced, says the ECF.
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France is the only country that has set the ambition of reducing its imported emissions in its latest national climate plan published in July. Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden have also announced their intention to include them in national climate policies.
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