Editorial 1: Green crosshairs
Context
- The European Union is about to implement the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) from October 1st, 2023. Thereafter from 1st January 2026, the EU will start levying the carbon border tax on multiple products exported to the EU.
Carbon border tax
- A carbon border tax is a tax imposed on imported goods to equalize the cost of carbon emissions between domestic and foreign producers.
- The tax aims to address the issue of carbon leakage, where companies move their emissions-intensive operations to countries with less stringent regulations, resulting in a net increase in emissions.
- As a cost on carbon, it discourages emissions. It has an impact on exports and production as a trade-related measure.
- As a price on carbon, it discourages emissions. As a trade-related measure, it affects production and exports.
CABM
- The EU proposed the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism in 2021. It was designed in compliance with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules and EU’s other international obligations.
- Objective: CBAM will equalize the price of carbon between domestic products and imports, ensuring that the EU’s climate objectives are not undermined by production relocating to countries with less ambitious policies.
- Through CBAM, the EU claims to promote fair competition, leveling the playing field between EU and non-EU businesses.
Working of Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM):
- EU importers need to buy carbon certificates based on the carbon price that would have been paid, had the goods been produced under the EU’s carbon pricing rules.
- The price of the certificates would be calculated based on the auction prices in the EU carbon credit markets.
- The amount of certificates required would be yearly defined by the quantity of goods and the embedded emissions in those goods imported into the EU.
- Initially, the CABM would apply to imports of cement, iron and steel, aluminium, fertilizers and electricity.
Implications on India
- In 2022, India’s 27% of the total export in iron, steel, and aluminium products went to the EU. Under this mechanism, from 1st October 2023, India’s export of Iron and aluminum to EU nations, will attract extra scrutiny.
- The tariffs for iron, steel, and aluminum products will be raised to 20-35 percent, exceeding the EU’s agreed-upon bound tariff rate of 2.2 percent for its manufacturers at the World Trade Organization (WTO). This will increase costs resulting in the loss of billions of dollars of exports.
- Though fertilizer, cement and electrical energy are the other affected products, India’s export on these products to the EU is very negligible and hence won’t impact India that much.
- As the EU adds more items to the CBAM list after 1st January 2026, the impact will be more on Indian exporters.
Way forward
- Having positioned itself as the voice of the global South, India must play that part to the hilt while at the helm of the G-20 this year and galvanise other nations to take on the EU’s carbon tax framework. This championing need not revolve around its own concerns, but the far worse implications the CBAM entails for poorer countries, many of whom rely more heavily on mineral resources than India does.
Conclusion
- At COP 27, India's Environment Minister said that ‘just transition’ to cleaner sources of energy did not mean that all countries should strive for the same level of decarbonisation. For India, just transition means the transition to a low-carbon development strategy over a time scale that ensures food and energy security, growth, and employment, leaving no one behind in the process.
Editorial 2: Securing the migrant vote
Introduction
- There were about 45.36 crore migrants in India as per the 2011 census. It makes up about 37% of the nation’s population.This indicates that a sizable portion of the population is denied their franchise because of the demands of their jobs or a lack of resources for travel. This blatantly contradicts the EC’s mission of “No voter left behind.”
Defining Remote Voting
- Any method that enables voters to cast their ballots from locations other than the polling place designated for their registration address is referred to as remote voting. Both domestically and internationally may be used as the remote voting location. It includes both non-electronic and electronic voting processes.
- A “Committee of Officers on Domestic Migrants” was established by the Election Commission (EC) earlier to handle this problem. A solution in the form of “remote voting” was proposed in the Committee’s 2016 report.
Migration and Remote Voting
Migrant workers across India are often apprehensive about registering themselves as voters in any other State apart from their home State. This is due to various reasons such as
- frequent changes in residence,
- fear of losing property in their home State, and
- their inability or unwillingness to bring their families with them as well.
- The migrants often convey that the locality were not safe for women.
Remote Electronic Voting Machine (RVM)
- The Election Commission of India (ECI)’s proposal for introducing Remote Voting Machines (RVMs) seeks to extend voting facilities to such migrant workers who find it difficult to travel to their native place to vote, and thus prevent the loss of votes.
- The special remote polling booths would be set up in different states when elections are on in the home state of migrants.
- The remote voter will have to pre-register for the facility by applying online or offline with the Returning Officer of the home constituency.
- The special polling stations would then be set up in the places of current residence of the remote voters.
- The RVM is a standalone and non-networked system.
- Instead of a paper ballot sheet, the RVM would have a dynamic ballot display that can change with the selection of different constituencies.
- The system would have a device similar to the VVPAT so voters can verify their votes.
Suggestions
- Ensuring that every Indian who is eligible to vote can do so must be a central mission for the ECI.
- Voting must be viewed not just as a civic duty but also as a civic right.
- To facilitate migrant workers voting, the ECI could undertake substantial outreach measures using the network of District Collectorates.
- Migrants should be able to physically vote in their city of work, based on the address on their existing voter IDs and duration of their temporary stay.
- So, in the lines of the ‘One Nation One Ration Card’, a ‘One Nation One Voter ID’ will ensure native ballot portability and empower the forgotten migrant voters.
- Ensuring that every Indian voter can participate in elections is imperative to ensure a democratically inclusive India.
Conclusion
- Lakhs of migrants not only have they left their home States, they have also given up on significant rights. While elections are an opportunity for people to exercise their fundamental rights, the votes of migrant voters have been missing for years. While the ECI’s move provides a ray of hope to millions of migrant workers, two crucial priorities ahead are to create awareness about the initiative and ensure transparency.