Enabling Climate Ambition: Border carbon adjustment in Canada and abroad

This report discusses the necessity and challenges of implementing a border carbon adjustment (BCA) mechanism in Canada to protect energy-intensive trade-exposed sectors as domestic carbon prices rise toward 2030.

• Canada faces the risk of emissions leakage in sectors such as steel, cement, fertilizers, and chemicals if other countries do not implement similar climate actions, as emissions may be transferred to unregulated foreign competitors.
• With Canada's legislated carbon price set to reach CAD 170/tonne by 2030, there is an urgent need for protections like BCA to ensure real emissions reductions in energy-intensive trade-exposed sectors.
• While the European Union is implementing a BCA (known as CBAM) by 2023, and the United States and United Kingdom intend to do the same, implementing such a system in Canada is described as 'devilishly complex', 'politically explosive', and potentially illegal under trade rules.

APA

Stiebert,, A. C. B. (2021). Enabling Climate Ambition: Border carbon adjustment in Canada and abroad. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/publications/enabling-climate-ambition-border-carbon-adjustment-canada

Chicago

Stiebert,, Aaron Cosbey,Michael Bernstein,Seton. Enabling Climate Ambition: Border carbon adjustment in Canada and abroad. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2021. https://www.iisd.org/publications/enabling-climate-ambition-border-carbon-adjustment-canada.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Stiebert, |first1=Aaron Cosbey,Michael Bernstein,Seton |title=Enabling Climate Ambition: Border carbon adjustment in Canada and abroad |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=12 July 2021 |url=https://www.iisd.org/publications/enabling-climate-ambition-border-carbon-adjustment-canada |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stiebert2021enabling, author = {Stiebert,, Aaron Cosbey,Michael Bernstein,Seton}, title = {{Enabling Climate Ambition: Border carbon adjustment in Canada and abroad}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2021}, month = jul, url = {https://www.iisd.org/publications/enabling-climate-ambition-border-carbon-adjustment-canada}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }