How international carbon credits could help the EU to regain climate leadership

The global clean energy transition is essential to keeping the Paris Agreement within reach. Yet phasing out fossil fuels, especially coal, remains a real challenge. Many emerging and developing economies still rely on coal to meet growing energy demand. They are likely to continue unless substantial support for feasible alternatives is mobilised.

This situation presents the EU with a strategic opportunity to renew partnerships while advancing its geopolitical, climate and competitiveness objectives. A compelling approach for the EU could involve a combination of Clean Trade and Investment Partnerships alongside the use of international carbon credits – an option it has recently begun to reconsider in the context of the 2040 target debate.

This Lab session presents and tests a proposition for integrating international carbon credits into the EU’s partnership framework. It explores how this can be done while maintaining strong integrity safeguards, to accelerate the global clean energy transition and strengthen Europe’s role in addressing climate change.