READ THE PAPER
I’m proud to have just published a peer-reviewed article in the Strategic Trade Review, discussing why fossil fuels should be considered a proliferation threat along the lines of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons or dual-use materials. I go into detail about how strategic trade management institutions should think about the landscape of policy and enforcement practicalities to mitigate climate change by restricting trade in fossil fuels. The history and infrastructure of multilateral nonproliferation regimes and enforcement institutions are the long-established foundation on which climate collective action is beginning to be built. Enforce it at the border!
A Message to the Climate Change Policy and Advocacy Community:
The collective action, tragedy of the commons, and multilateral coordination problems of climate change have already been solved over the past century of nonproliferation movements. Learn this history and build upon these institutions of trade controls, multilateral institutions, global governance of international trade, the sharing of economic and administrative burdens, and diplomatic norms. Don’t reinvent the wheel, but embrace the lessons, institutions, mechanisms, and expertise that can counter the nonproliferation of fossil fuels to solve the climate crisis.
A Message to the Strategic Trade Management and Customs Community:
I not only recommend, but predict that strategic trade management and customs enforcement will take center stage in the coming global waves of climate mitigation policies. The threat posed by the burning of fossil fuels is similar in scale and character to threats posed by WMDs, and that threat grows as it is ignored. Roughly half of global GDP crosses international borders, so regulating and pricing carbon emissions will be on your shoulders. It’s time to prepare, get smart on climate, and join the conversation to stem the proliferation of fossil fuels.
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