Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/209641 
Year of Publication: 
2019
Series/Report no.: 
DIW Discussion Papers No. 1834
Publisher: 
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), Berlin
Abstract: 
This paper explores whether governments can ban carbon-intensive materials through product carbon requirements. By setting near-zero emission limits for the production of materials to be sold within a jurisdiction, governments would accelerate the phase out of carbon-intensive production processes. Their announcement could alert basic materials producers, financing institutions, and other relevant stakeholders, thus incentivising them to prepare for this shift by dedicating their innovation efforts and investments to climatefriendly production processes and low-carbon materials. The paper analyses various product standards and technical regulations in the European context. The analysis of these standards and technical regulations offers an overview of the types of environmental requirements that the European Union has already adopted. Therefore, it provides a case study of the political, legal, and technical backgrounds for the development of product carbon requirements, both in the EU and beyond. Second, the paper presents an analysis of the provisions in WTO law that would apply to product carbon requirements, underlining the legal arguments in support of their adoption under international trade law.
Subjects: 
Embodied Carbon
Climate Policy
Standards
Technical Regulations
WTO
JEL: 
K23
L61
Q54
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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