Webinar: India’s FTAs – Trade, climate and strategic choices

India’s emerging trade arrangements with the European Union and the United States reflect a calibrated posture. New Delhi appears prepared to internalise EU carbon border costs on sectors such as steel as a mechanism to advance industrial decarbonisation, mobilise EFTA’s USD 100 billion investment commitment in support of green manufacturing, and recalibrate US LNG imports to reinforce energy security following reductions in Russian oil dependence.

With the EU FTA text yet to be released and the India–US joint trade statement still pending, these choices will test India’s capacity to preserve climate policy autonomy while positioning itself as a credible Global South interlocutor in the run-up to COP31. The new trade deals promise export growth but may collide with climate reality. For India—currently chairing BRICS and preparing its Third National Communication to the UNFCCC—these FTAs test the viability of a “middle‑power” climate‑trade strategy: securing green capital and technology while protecting policy space for a just transition aligned with net‑zero 2070 targets.

On 11 February, TULIP’s Director, Colette van der Ven, joined an online discussion organised by Climate Trends, which examined the climate implications of India’s emerging trade arrangements with the European Union and the United States.