[SHARM EL-SHEIK, EGYPT] Advanced economies, particularly those in the European Union, are trying to impose their own decarbonisation pathways onto emerging markets in South-east Asia without working together with the less developed countries, said Madelena Mohamed, director of Bank Negara Malaysia’s sustainability unit.

One such example is the proposed carbon border adjustment mechanism, which seeks to propose tariffs on EU imports based on their emissions content — a measure that would hit small and medium-sized enterprises from emerging markets the hardest, Madelena told The Business Times on the sidelines of the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27).

“Because they want to move, they want everybody to move at the same pace as theirs, so that nobody will actually be a drag to them,” she said. “Instead of working together, helping others to actually move. So, this is what we call climate equity. We don’t see that there is actually climate equity, because, you know, the advanced economies are dictating.”