Critical raw materials, the net-zero transition and the ‘securitisation’ of the trade and climate change mitigation nexus: pinpointing environmental risks and charting a new path for transnational decarbonisation

Leonelli, Giulia Claudia ORCID: 0000-0001-9567-3280 (2024) Critical raw materials, the net-zero transition and the ‘securitisation’ of the trade and climate change mitigation nexus: pinpointing environmental risks and charting a new path for transnational decarbonisation. World Trade Review. ISSN 1474-7456 (In Press)

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Abstract

The exercise of environmental ‘leverage’ via trade-related measures and trade in environmental goods offer opportunities to tackle the climate crisis and advance transnational decarbonisation. Inward looking, adversarial and short-term national security-centred approaches, however, are disrupting the trade and climate change mitigation linkage. This article employs the race for critical raw materials and US and EU strategies to promote the net-zero transition at the domestic level as case studies to illustrate the environmental pitfalls of the ‘securitisation’ of the trade and climate change mitigation nexus. The article demonstrates that the pursuit of strategic dominance in key net-zero sectors, attempts to exclude systemic rivals and reshore supply chains, opportunistic forms of friendshoring and loose agreement on regulatory means jeopardise recourse to environmental ‘leverage’ and undermine decarbonisation at both national and transnational levels. This analysis casts a light on the inherent tension between national security and climate change mitigation. Taking stock of these findings, the article advocates a radically different approach to the governance of the trade and climate change mitigation nexus.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2024 The Author(s)
Divisions:	Law
Subjects:	K Law G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences
Date Deposited:	27 Oct 2023 11:15
Last Modified:	17 Oct 2024 18:07
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/120553

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