Solar panels installed on the rooftops of a seafood processing plant in the Mekong Delta. (Photo: VNA) The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) by the EuropeanParliament (EP), according to the EP, is to "put a fair price on thecarbon emitted during the production of carbon-intensive goods that areentering the EU, and to encourage cleaner industrial production in non-EU countries."
The bloc requires exporters to report their commodities' carbonfootprints, on which a tax may be levied should carbon emissions during theproduction of said commodities exceed the EU's carbon regulations.
Instead of buying the EU's carbon certificate, Vietnamesebusinesses could take steps to reduce their own carbon footprints duringproduction, experts said.
The mechanism will start with commodities with higher carbonfootprints including steel, cement, fertiliser, aluminium and electricity,which altogether account for 94% of the continent's carbon emissions.
Andrew Wyatt, deputy head of the International Union forConservation of Nature (IUCN) in Vietnam, urged the central Government toestablish policies to monitor and issue carbon certificates to Vietnameseexporters and producers by 2025.
He said IUCN, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment(MoNRE) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) havebeen working closely together in recent years to build policy frameworksrelated to the global carbon market.
Industry experts said CBAM will affect Vietnamese major exportersand retailers first, especially producers and exporters of products with highercarbon footprints, giving smaller players some time to prepare.
Vietnamese businesses, however, have been anticipating the newcarbon tax for quite some time as many already implemented measures to reducetheir carbon emissions.
Ho Quoc Luc, Chairman of the Board of Directors at the Sao Ta FoodJSC, said solar panels have become the norm among Vietnamese seafood producersin the last few years. In addition, they have been actively seeking ways toturn their by-products into new products instead of discarding them into theenvironment.
To produce greater results, however, there was a need to establisha set of common standards for the entire supply chain, he said.
Nguyen Thi Lien, Deputy General Director of Phong PhuInternational JSC, said her company has been taking numerous steps to reducepollution during the last ten years including lowering energy consumption,water waste, and chemical waste, and replacing old machinery gradually.
Pascal Canfin, Chair of the EU's Committee on CBAM, said themechanism is the EU's first attempt to ensure fairness among Europeanbusinesses, who are subject to the continent's strict carbon rules, andinternational businesses.
Canfin added CBAM is part of the EU's "do-more" attitudeto sustainable development, environmental preservation and workerprotection.
CBAM is to become a key pillar in the EU's climate change policy,making it the first trade bloc to impose a carbon tax on imported goods, on topof already existing environmental taxes./.
VNA
