European carbon tax faces growing resistance on the eve of COP31

India prepares for a confrontation over CBAM at COP31

India has intensified its opposition to the European carbon border tax ahead of the COP31 climate summit, which opens on November 9 in Antalya, Turkey, and will be held under the joint chairmanship of Turkey and Australia. This is reported by Euronews. India's Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav told local media that New Delhi is ready to defend its industrial interests against 'unilateral trade barriers' such as the CBAM mechanism. 'When it comes to protecting India's interests, we speak about it most firmly,' the outlet quotes him as saying.

What CBAM is and why it is controversial

The CBAM mechanism came into force in January 2026 and covers imports of aluminium, cement, fertilizers, hydrogen, iron and steel, effectively obliging operators to pay for the CO2 emissions associated with production. Brussels argues that the tax prevents imports produced under looser climate rules from displacing European manufacturers. Developing economies, by contrast, call it an unfair unilateral measure that could punish their industries and limit their development: foreign players do not pay for emissions but are required to carry out monitoring and reporting, which they consider an excessive burden. Shortly after the mechanism's launch, several EU countries asked for temporary exemptions for fertilizers, fearing price increases and a threat to food security, but the European Commission did not grant this request, according to Euronews documents on the exemption request and the Commission's subsequent refusal.

India's trade minister warns of a 'catastrophe'

The economic consequences of CBAM were recently criticized by India's Trade Minister Piyush Goyal at the Berlin Global Dialogue. 'If you have imposed CBAM against yourself, you are introducing a 50 percent import duty on steel into your country — you are inviting a catastrophe. The cost of living will rise, people will be unhappy, your industry will become uncompetitive on price,' Euronews quotes him as saying.

Tax expansion and growing resistance around the world

Timelines are heightening tensions: Brussels is negotiating to extend CBAM to new goods, including washing machines and auto components, as well as to tighten rules against circumventing the tax. The next round of political negotiations between the EU Council and the European Parliament is scheduled for November 20. Resistance to the mechanism is growing beyond India as well: Canada is trying to negotiate an exemption from CBAM with the EU against the backdrop of deepening energy cooperation, the US is assessing whether the tax could harm American companies, and Russia is challenging CBAM at the WTO. On November 3, Russia and China announced that they would join forces at COP31 against unilateral trade barriers. The United Kingdom, by contrast, has chosen the path of integration: it is negotiating to link its emissions trading system with the European ETS, which, according to Treasury Financial Secretary Lord Livermore, would create conditions for mutual CBAM exemptions.

Brussels' weakened position ahead of the summit

The EU is also facing pressure from within: delays in implementing the methane rules, , a reconsideration of the ban on new diesel and petrol cars from 2035 and disputes over the ETS reflect, according to Euronews, a retreat from what was previously called the European Green Deal. This weakens Brussels' negotiating position at COP31, where it wants to achieve progress on electrification and the phase-out of fossil fuels — a decision supported at the climate summit in Santa Marta. The environmental organization Climate Action Network Europe believes the EU cannot demand that the world abandon fossil fuels while weakening its own climate policy. 'The EU cannot ask the rest of the world for results while weakening climate action at home or underdelivering on finance. Leadership in Antalya means doing both,' said Sven Harmeling, the organization's head of climate.