BRICS condemns EU carbon border tax as unilateral, protectionist

Published Aug 18, 04:17 PM UTC

BRICS countries, meeting in New Delhi under India's chairship, condemned the European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) as 'unilateral, punitive, discriminatory and protectionist.' The joint statement from the 12th BRICS Environment Ministers' Meeting argued that such carbon border measures undermine developing countries' climate resilience efforts. The EU's CBAM, which entered its definitive phase in January 2026, requires importers of carbon-intensive products like steel and cement to account for emissions. India, whose steel exports to the EU are heavily affected, faces additional compliance costs amid ongoing free trade agreement negotiations with the EU. The BRICS ministers also called for a significant increase in adaptation finance from developed countries, urging them to meet the 2025 UN climate conference commitment to triple adaptation finance by 2035. The demand comes ahead of COP31 in Turkey in November 2026, as adaptation finance remains a contentious issue unresolved at the June Bonn climate talks.