The future of transatlantic climate and trade cooperation
ODI at the WBG/IMF Spring Meetings
ODI is convening a series of events in Washington DC during the week of the 2024 World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings.
For more information, including details on how to register, please visit our dedicated Spring Meetings webpage.
Description
The EU-US Summit on October 20, 2023, surfaced unbridgeable differences in transatlantic negotiations of the so-called Global Sustainable Steel and Aluminium Arrangement (GASSA) and a Critical Raw Materials Agreement (CRMA). While motivated by the mutual desire to resolve disputes over US Section 232 steel and aluminium tariffs, local content requirements applicable to IRA EV incentives as well as to address questions over the meaning of the EU’s CBAM for US exports, unfavorable political conditions and diverging policy preferences have rendered negotiated solutions in both instances a mission impossible in the nearer term. Looming elections on both sides of the Atlantic, however, provide policy-makers, stakeholders, and technical experts with the opportunity to generate a common understanding of the causes of past negotiation impasses and to identify areas of future cooperation while taking due account of developing countries interests in a just and equitable transition to net-zero emissions. The legislative initiatives of several US Senators laying the groundwork for a US carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), for instance, create ample space for dedicated transatlantic dialogue. Cooperation could aim to ensure alignment and/or interoperability of various carbon border measures that will operate in the jurisdictions of the EU, the US, Canada, and the UK, among others.
Held in context of the ODI Day at the margins of the 2024 Spring Meetings, this closed-door roundtable event will gather a select group of policy-makers, stakeholders, and technical experts to discuss lessons learned from past negotiations. Secondly, the meeting aims to identify priority items for the post-election agenda of transatlantic climate & trade cooperation.
Speakers
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David Kleimann
Senior Research Associate, ODI Europe and IEDG
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Catrina Rorke
Senior Vice President, Policy and Research, Climate Leadership Council
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Alan Beattie
Senior Trade Writer, Financial Times
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Michael Mehling
Deputy Director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research (CEEPR - MIT)
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Matthias Jorgensen
Head of Unit for Trade Relations with the United States and Canada, DG TRADE, European Commission
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Shuting Pomerleau
Deputy Director of Climate, Niskanen Center
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Sushan Demirjian
Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Small Business, Market Access, and Industrial Competitiveness
