Punitive duties proposed in Germany for polluter nations

Jun 16, 2007, 13:55 GMT

Berlin - German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel has called for punitive duties on imports from polluters if India and China do not move to slow the growth in greenhouse gas emissions.

In an interview released Saturday by the news magazine Der Spiegel, he said absolute cuts in emissions could not be demanded from India and China because they needed to raise living standards.

'But we can demand from them that they use the aid we offer them to disconnect economic growth from climate damage,' he said. If they did not, the West could use a 'border tax' on their exports as an incentive.

He said the 'climate duty' would hit products from nations which refused to take part in international action against climate change.

The tax had been discussed within the European Union and Washington had been briefed, he said. When environment ministers from emerging nations were told in Sweden a week ago that it was under study, they had protested.

'Of course it needn't come to this. The developing countries are now willing to negotiate. That's new,' said Gabriel, who has chaired EU environmental policy for the past six months as part of the German EU presidency.

He was asked what would happen if the European steel or aluminium industry collapsed and production moved to China because of laxer carbon-dioxide emissions rules.

'We'll tell them, you have to pay up on your products at the border to the European Union, to the United States and to Japan,' he replied.