Energy Gang

How global trade can help build the clean energy economy

Jul 23, 2024

In this discussion, Amy Myers-Jaffe, Director at NYU's Energy, Climate Justice Lab, and Dan Esty, Yale's Environmental Law and Policy Professor, dive into the intersection of global trade and the clean energy transition. Dan highlights how international trade rules can foster environmental standards, enabling a collaborative shift to decarbonization. They scrutinize China's solar and EV production dominance and its implications for global trade. Lastly, they explore the necessity of equitable sustainability strategies to mitigate competitive disadvantages in the clean energy market.

01:09:10

Episode guests

Dan Esty

Amy Myers-Jaffe

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Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

International trade can serve as a structured framework to enforce global environmental standards, promoting low-carbon technology adoption among countries.

China's advancements in low-carbon technology create both opportunities for cheaper innovations and concerns over market dominance, necessitating balanced international competition.

A comprehensive reform of trade institutions is essential to align economic policies with sustainability objectives, fostering a cohesive approach to the clean energy transition.

Deep dives

The Importance of International Trade in Clean Energy

International trade is considered a crucial element in addressing climate change and promoting clean energy technologies. There is a growing recognition that the global trading system could incentivize countries and businesses to adopt low-carbon technologies by setting clear environmental standards and creating a level playing field. A significant example is the European Union's carbon border adjustment mechanism, which aims to ensure that imports adhere to the same climate standards as domestic products. This indicates that effective trade policies can encourage not just compliance but a collective push towards a sustainable energy future.

Intro

4min

The Urgency of Global Trade in Clean Energy Transition

2min

Understanding China's Dominance in Solar and EV Production

2min

Trade and the Clean Energy Transition

15min

Navigating Global Trade and Carbon Policy

16min

Trade, Climate, and WTO Challenges

21min

Rethinking Global Trade for a Clean Energy Future

6min

Navigating the Future of Electric and Automated Vehicles

4min

As the world struggles to co-operate on the energy transition, international trade rules can be a foundation for the new low-carbon economy.

Ed Crooks is joined by regular guest Amy Myers-Jaffe, Director of New York University’s Energy, Climate Justice, and Sustainability Lab, and new guest on The Energy Gang: Dan Esty, who is the Hillhouse Professor of Environmental Law and Policy at Yale University. Dan goes a long way back in clean energy: he was on the US delegation that negotiated the original Framework Convention on Climate Change back in 1992. And he has recently been working for Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, to develop a sustainability strategy for the global trading system.

Dan argues that the trade system may be the best way to get everyone in the world, and businesses in particular, to “lock arms and move together” to decarbonize the global economy. The goal is to make sure that “no one's competitively disadvantaged by stepping out in front of the pack when it comes to this movement to a clean energy future."

Ed, Amy and Dan explore this concept in this week’s show. The trade system provides a structured framework of rules that can enforce environmental standards globally. By integrating these standards into trade policies, countries can be encouraged to adopt low-carbon technologies without fearing competitive disadvantages. Businesses and countries are reluctant to switch to clean energy if they think their competitors won't do the same. Trade rules can make sure everyone plays fair.

What’s more, a reformed trade system that promotes clean energy technologies can also create economic opportunities around the world. The gang discuss how new rules could help developing countries.

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