An economist at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) has strongly criticised the European Union’s implementation of its Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) – a tax on carbon-intensive goods that are imported into Europe.
Speaking at the African Development Bank’s annual meetings in Brazzaville this week, UNECA chief economist and deputy executive secretary Hanan Morsy expressed dismay at the way the EU has approached CBAM implementation.
“Part of our concerns is that we were not part of how this was designed – we were neither consulted, engaged, or offered a say on implementation,” she said.
“In today’s world, this matters a great deal. While we all agree in terms of the direction of travel, we think we can support that agenda without it undermining our development.”
“We need to have a deeper discussion about how we can ensure that climate-related trade measures do not undermine Africa’s industrialisation and transformation objectives.”
