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With the emergence of climate-themed trade measures, it is increasingly crucial to promote the globalization of China's national carbon emissions trading system (C-ETS) with Chinese characteristics in a proactive, systematic, and orderly manner. Existing studies have largely focused on 'point-to-point' responses to international pressure and/or on the construction of a domestic carbon ETS primarily for institutional self-sufficiency. Altogether, the current literature may fail to sufficiently inform authorities, particularly on how to effectively address the urgent need to safeguard economic and trade interests and, further, on how to systematically accommodate the strategic need to enhance low-carbon competitiveness for the future and to assume a more active role under future global governance. Therefore, this study analyzes the three major challenges faced by the C-ETS systematically and, from the interdisciplinary perspectives of law and economics, identifies the theoretical nature and guiding principles of globalizing the C-ETS. Furthermore, based on an analysis of institutional background (i.e., international law and associated carbon-themed guidelines) and practical basis (i.e., associated domestic and international practices and the status quo of carbon-themed global competitions), this study evaluates the technical feasibility, legal compatibility, economic co-benefits, and political desirability of various paths, identifies key areas and low-carbon standards, and further proposes three-stage paths. Ultimately, this study finds that:(1) From the perspective of climate trade policy linkages, the key to globalizing the C-ETS is to leverage China's economic and trade influences to systematically promote low-carbon standards thereof. (2) Differing from international practices, e.g., those of the EU, China's globalization emphasizes the dynamic interaction between climate justice and mitigation efficiency to better balance domestic and global interests as well as climate pledges and domestic industrial competitiveness. (3) Significant differences exist in the goals, implementing entities, and paths of globalization across different fields of mandatory and voluntary ETSs, intersections of trade and climate change mitigation, and mechanisms for sharing carbon costs. Altogether, this study provides theoretical rationale and policy suggestions for public actors at the national, regional, and city levels, particularly as to taking a more prominent role in future global climate governance. It further lays a theoretical foundation for private actors, such as Chinese enterprises, industry associations, and financial institutions, to engage in soft-law-governed global carbon governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of carbon neutrality, the BRICS countries, representatives of emerging developing countries, have proposed their own adaptation policies and carbon emission reduction targets (CERT). Here, we sort out the evolution of their climate policies and actions over the past half-century. After piecing together their energy structures and carbon emissions from various sources and by different sectors, we see distinct energy structures diverging over time with increasing varieties of non-fossil energy. However, all the BRICS countries, except for Brazil, still rely heavily on fossil fuels, which poses a real challenge to emission reduction. After considering their diversified energy structures, we estimate their timelines for achieving the carbon neutrality goal using the Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollution Interactions and Synergies (GAINS) model. From the model output, we propose possible solutions to help achieve the carbon neutrality goal with respect to their individual status quo and future needs for socioeconomic development. The suggestions include reinforcing the legislation, strengthening cooperation in the fields of energy and carbon management and in core technologies for carbon emission reduction, improving the cooperation mechanisms of the BRICS countries, and further expanding all-round cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]