China Wants Importers to Cover Emission Costs

Chinese officials, speaking about the current negotiations on a worldwide climate change treaty, said Monday that anyone importing Chinese goods should be held responsible for the carbon dioxide emitted by the factories that make them:

"About 15 percent to 25 percent of China's emissions come from the products which we make for the world, which should not be taken by us," said Gao Li, director of China's Department of Climate Change.

Oh-oh. Looks like our cheap Chinese labor – and the amazing gadgets and toys it produces – are about to get a whole lot more expensive.

Gao added that "this share of emission should be taken by the consumers, not the producers" and called the demand a "very important item to make (for a) fair agreement."

This is a very interesting proposal which reflects an equally inconvenient truth – a large portion of China’s carbon emissions come from manufacturing, and a large portion of that manufacturing is for products which are not consumed in China. However, this deal has a few ways of working, none of which work nearly as well as a straight carbon tax. My flow charts:

Carbon tax > More expensive for companies to operate > Higher costs passed on to the consumer > Chinese government get more money. Grade = A

Or

China makes no changes at all > Importers have to pay a carbon tax > Higher costs passed on to the consumer > Someone gets this money, but it is not necessarily the Chinese government. Grade = B

Or

China makes no changes at all > Importers make no changes at all > Importing countries are required to offset the emissions > Importing countries do nothing as they are already struggling to meet their own carbon reduction goals > The world gets hotter until we all die. Grade C-

Once again, it is very important to understand that China is getting a really bad deal no matter what happens. While we (we being the West, and America in particular) were industrializing, we spewed tons of carbon into the air, basically causing the situation we are in now. Now that China is industrializing, we are trying to stick them with the same responsibilities we have in cleaning up this mess, even though they caused a significantly smaller part of it. Even though we are spewing roughly the same amount of carbon today, the lifetime carbon footprint of our respective countries is still skewed way in favor of American output. Additionally, on a per capita basis, America still spews 3x as much CO2 into the atmosphere as China does.

While I think China is essentially trying to get off the hook by proposing what I am almost certain is the #3 scenario above, we all need to recognize that Western countries have a much bigger responsibility here than the Chinese. Getting them involved in the process is very important, but it is no excuse to stop taking action on our own right away.

Image provided by Rennett Stowe