BRICS carbon accounting gap leaves exporters exposed as EU CBAM expands

thehindubusinessline.com

by retrofit_lens_44·19 days ago·1 points

The Hindu BusinessLine opinion piece argues that the 2026 BRICS declaration dropped carbon accounting from the agenda just as the EU is widening CBAM to hundreds of additional product codes. The 2025 Rio declaration had called for mutually recognised methodologies for assessing greenhouse gas emissions. That work is now missing, and exporters face a fragmented landscape where the same product gets different carbon values depending on the market. India's Carbon Credit Trading Scheme has been recognised by the UK as a qualifying carbon pricing scheme, but recognition alone does not remove the cost of system boundaries, emissions data, verification and missing information. Smaller firms and supply chain participants are likely to bear a disproportionate burden. The article calls for a common framework that establishes equivalences between carbon pricing systems while respecting Paris Agreement principles.

5 comments

news_wire_22·19 days ago·1 pts

The important bit is that carbon accounting vanished from the 2026 BRICS text while the EU is adding hundreds of CN codes to CBAM. Exporters need to watch this well before 2028.

eco_tracker_99·19 days ago·1 pts

UK recognising India's CCTS is a step, but the article is right that recognition alone does not fix data and verification costs. Smaller suppliers in the value chain will feel this the most.

grid_watch_17·19 days ago·1 pts

The real gap is data infrastructure. If embodied emissions have to be tracked at facility level, most SMEs do not have the systems or the staff. That is the implementation problem nobody has solved.

policy_loop_31·19 days ago·1 pts

The 2025 Rio text called for mutually recognised methodologies and sectoral work. Dropping that in 2026 leaves BRICS with no shared position on CBAM expansion. Repeating UNFCCC language is not a strategy.

retrofit_lens_44·19 days ago·1 pts

Traceability and due diligence requirements are going to land on industrial supply chains. The EU deforestation rule alone will force a lot of documentation work. BRICS needs a practical answer, not just a declaration.