Reducing fragmentation and fostering interoperability in trade-related climate measures

The paper argues that fragmentation of trade-related climate measures (TrCMs) creates significant regulatory burdens, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises in smaller economies. It distinguishes 'interoperability'—the ability to pass useful information between systems—from 'harmonization,' suggesting that focusing on the former allows governments to reduce trade barriers while preserving policy space. The author proposes several strategies to achieve this, including alignment with international standards like ISO 14067 and IPCC guidelines, adopting flexible information systems, focusing on high-impact sectoral products (e.g., steel, aluminium, and concrete), and utilizing a structured 'top-down' approach to collaboration based on a hierarchy of regulatory objectives and principles.

• Fragmentation of trade-related climate measures (TrCMs) increases regulatory burdens for supply chain participants, which can act as a non-tariff barrier to trade and disproportionately disadvantage small and medium-sized enterprises and exporters from smaller domestic markets.
• Interoperability differs from harmonization in that it focuses on the ability to transfer useful information between systems without requiring the harmonization of all policy elements, such as emissions threshold values for 'clean' goods.
• Achieving interoperability for product embedded emissions requires the harmonization of specific technical elements, including emissions factors, greenhouse gases included, global warming factors, accounting boundaries, default values, allocation methods, and chain-of-custody models.
• To prevent further fragmentation, states should align new TrCMs with existing international standards, specifically the ISO 14067 Product Carbon Footprint Standard (currently being revised with the GHG Protocol) and the IPCC Emissions Accounting Guidelines.
• Sectoral and product-level approaches are most effective when targeting 'dual materiality' products—those significant for both climate and trade—such as steel, aluminium, and concrete, as they have lower accounting complexity and higher harmonization benefits.
• The author proposes a 'top-down' structured approach to collaboration to achieve interoperability, organizing harmonization into six levels: General Regulatory Objectives, Overarching Principles, Supporting Principles, Framework Structure, Framework Rules, and Product-Specific Rules.

APA

Aisbett, E. (2026). Reducing fragmentation and fostering interoperability in trade-related climate measures. Forum on Trade, Environment, & the SDGs. https://tessforum.org/latest/reducing-fragmentation-and-fostering-interoperability-in-trade-related-climate-measures

Chicago

Aisbett, Emma. Reducing fragmentation and fostering interoperability in trade-related climate measures. Forum on Trade, Environment, & the SDGs, 2026. https://tessforum.org/latest/reducing-fragmentation-and-fostering-interoperability-in-trade-related-climate-measures.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Aisbett |first1=Emma |title=Reducing fragmentation and fostering interoperability in trade-related climate measures |publisher=Forum on Trade, Environment, & the SDGs |date=22 June 2026 |url=https://tessforum.org/latest/reducing-fragmentation-and-fostering-interoperability-in-trade-related-climate-measures |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{aisbett2026reducing, author = {Aisbett, Emma}, title = {{Reducing fragmentation and fostering interoperability in trade-related climate measures}}, institution = {Forum on Trade, Environment, \& the SDGs}, year = {2026}, month = jun, url = {https://tessforum.org/latest/reducing-fragmentation-and-fostering-interoperability-in-trade-related-climate-measures}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }