| From the 20th century to the 21st century, human-induced global climate change intensified, the international community has fully realized the importance of protecting the environment. As we know, climate warming is a serious, urgent and long-term challenge, affecting every corner of the globe. The international community has already made some attempts and taken certain measuresThe 1992 United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which was the first international convention on global climate governance, requires developed country parties to adopt policies and measures that demonstrate that they are taking the lead in reducing emissions. UNFCCC follows the principle of "Common but Differentiated Responsibilities", which means that developed countries and developing countries have different obligations in reducing emissions. The convention has established a long-term mechanism, by which different countries can report the situation of their greenhouse gas emissions and the process of reducing emissions. In addition, the developed countries agreed to promote the funding and technology to transfer to the developing countries and helping them to cope with climate change.In 2005, the Kyoto Protocol entered into force. It made specific targets for emission reductions clearly for the first time. However, the United States withdrew from the Kyoto Protocol in 2001,also did Canada in 2011。2008-2012 was the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, with the end of the first commitment period, the international community has been more and more doubtful about the effect of Kyoto Protocol. Even though the second commitment period has been established in the 2012 Doha Conference, but truly speaking, it is time to think about what’s the difference of the post-Kyoto climate regulation.Since the provisions of the Kyoto Protocol has made it possible to trade emissions (emissions trading), Europe and other developed countries have been trying to establish a carbon emissions trading system, through carbon pricing and carbon tax to promote enterprises to reduce emissions and improve production methods. In the discussion of the "emissions trading system, for the sake of "carbon leakage" and "competitiveness" concerns, border carbon adjustment was mentioned. Border carbon adjustment means measures taken at the border by those countries that have taken efforts to reduce emissions. Generally speaking, it can be achieved by two ways, first, using carbon tax and second, buying emissions credits.This paper explored whether BCAs can really deal with the problem of "carbon leakage" and "competitiveness" and analyzed BCAs from three dimensions:the legitimacy, the validity and the fairness, founding that there are many problems in these three dimensions. When talking about its legitimacy, border carbon adjustment has many challenges in obtaining legitimacy within the framework of WTO. When talking about the validity of BCAs, means the operation and specific effects of BCAs can’t be guaranteed. When talking about the fairness of BCAs, means that these measures may conflict with common but differentiated responsibilities of the United Nations framework Convention on climate and may be used as trade barriers.So, after analyzing the potential problems of BCAs, this paper concludes with a discussion of how to build a regime that could really help to reduce carbon emissions. In the long term, the interests of both developed countries and developing countries should be taken into account. The new regime should be based on the international conventions and regulations and need to establish a monitoring mechanism, such as a climate regime can really contribute to the reduction of emissions. |
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