The legal interface between carbon border measures and trade rules

The development of climate policies has gained pace over the past two decades, and their scope and complexity have increased. It is therefore essential to better understand their key features in order to draw a clearer picture of their overall effect and potential impact on trade. WTO rules and case law that relate generally to environmental issues as well as other key disciplines are relevant to the examination of climate border measures: several core principles of the GATT, including the disciplines on tariffs, the general non-discrimination principle, and the general exceptions, as well as WTO disciplines on subsidies. WTO rules are explored for their relevance to climate-related border measures. For a possible justification of a trade restrictive measure, such as a border carbon adjustment, certain criteria need to be fulfilled with a view to avoiding an undue situation of green protectionism.