What East Africa must do to balance trade with the EU

A study by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), notes that the introduction of carbon pricing coupled with a CBAM may help reduce carbon emissions inside and outside the EU, but the implementation of the CBAM may result in decline in exports in developing countries in favor of developed countries, which tend to have less carbon intensive production processes. In this regard, view and perspectives from EU trading partners in the developing world, including East Africa, can inform measures to mitigate potential negative impacts of the proposed CBAM. At the same time, this world-first policy is an opportunity to generate international momentum that could facilitate a green level playing field that leads to trade policy becoming a climate good.

SEI undertook a scoping study on the potential impacts of the EU trade strategy, including the CBAM implementation in Eastern Africa, in order to generate evidence to inform policy measures both by the EU and the governments of the East African Community (EAC). This scoping study was supported by the Green Trade Network (GTN), a network established in 2021 to promote a European agenda for a better alignment of trade policies and trade-impacting measures with key environmental and climate objectives.

Read the article by Quartz Africa about the workshop.