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Updates: carbon update

Carbon leakage

What is carbon leakage, why is it a problem, and is it really happening? This Carbon Update explains

Discussions of anthropogenic climate change and government policies to tackle it sometimes mention the concept of carbon leakage. This refers to an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions in one location counteracting the decreases achieved elsewhere as a result of government policies such as imposing a carbon tax on cement manufacturers. It usually refers to carbon dioxide (e.g. from burning coal in a power station), but carbon leakage can apply to any number of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Leakage seems especially relevant today, for two reasons.

■ First, the Paris Agreement on managing GHG emissions globally seems to actively enable leakage.

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