Adair Turner, co-chair of the Energy Transitions Commission, recently advocated for a strategic partnership between China and Europe regarding carbon pricing. The proposal centers on the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), a European policy that imposes levies on imported goods based on their carbon footprint to ensure domestic producers are not at a competitive disadvantage. Turner argues that rather than viewing such measures as isolated trade barriers, China and Europe should coordinate their approaches to create a unified 'climate club.'

According to Turner, this coordination would help harmonize the costs of carbon-intensive production globally. By aligning these policies, the two regions could theoretically stabilize trade relations while accelerating the transition to cleaner energy. The proposal suggests that China joining such a framework would provide a more structured approach to global climate policy than the current fragmented system of individual national levies. While the European Union has already begun implementing its CBAM, China has yet to formally adopt a similar border-tax structure, making this proposal a significant shift in how the two major economies might approach climate-related trade regulations in the future.