International cooperation for decarbonizing energy intensive industries: the case for a Green Materials Club

Basic materials are traded globally and responsible for roughly 22 % of global carbon emissions. It is technically possible for the energy intensive industries (EIIs) that produce these materials to reach zero emission, but at a cost. So far, the fear of carbon leakage has been a barrier for implementing ambitious domestic climate policies that targets theses globally traded commodities. The introduction of border carbon adjustments (BCAs) for levelling the global playing field has been suggested to ameliorate these concerns. However, another way is to focus more on innovation, adopting green industrial policies and to cooperate internationally for developing technologies for net zero EIIs. In this chapter we explore the opportunities for enhanced cooperation for enabling deep decarbonisation for EIIs and how that links to BCAs. We argue for establishing a green materials club focusing on long-term technology development and discusses limitation and opportunities for this approach. A green materials club could ease the conflicts between trade and ambitious climate policy and complement BCAs.