Road to Belém | Webinar Session Living La Vida BoCA: Border Carbon Adjustments and Rules-Based Trade

With COP30 fast approaching, border-carbon adjustments are shifting from proposal to practice, reframing the balance between decarbonisation ambition and an open, rules-based trading system. This session stress-tests an Australian BoCA concept across economic, legal and diplomatic dimensions: how leakage risks are defined; how product-carbon data are measured, verified and disclosed; and how non-discrimination, proportionality and transparency can be maintained. Discussion situates BoCA within Australia’s domestic architecture (Safeguard Mechanism, critical-minerals strategy) and the Indo-Pacific context, considering interoperability with emerging schemes, recognition of equivalent measures, transitional arrangements and capacity building—especially for Southeast Asia. Anchored to the road to Belém, the session assesses which governance signals from COP30 would clarify the role of BCAs in global climate policy and how a credible Australian approach could reinforce rules-based trade while informing Australia’s prospective COP31 host role.

Guiding questions:

· Climate–trade nexus: Can a BoCA lift decarbonisation ambition while preserving open, rules‑based Indo‑Pacific trade?

· Australian policy architecture: How would a BoCA integrate with the Safeguard Mechanism and the critical‑minerals strategy?

· Diplomatic leverage: Would a credible BoCA interact with Canberra’s position at COP30 and support its bid to co‑host COP31?

Speakers:

• Tennant Reed — Director of Climate Change and Energy, Australian Industry Group

• Peter Draper — Executive Director, Institute for International Trade

• Susan Stone — Credit Union SA Chair of Economics, University of South Australia

Moderator:

• Harry Wardana — Research Fellow, Institute for International Trade (IIT), University of Adelaide