The transition to a clean energy economy is imperative not only to tackle the climate crisis, but also to spur development through new economic opportunities, new investment, and the creation of new green jobs. In seeking to capture these benefits, however, governments are increasingly turning to trade rules to challenge one others' domestic renewable energy industries, thereby undermining the global clean energy transition we all seek. Put simply, all governments must have the ability to develop domestic renewable energy industries to fight climate change and the entrenched fossil fuel industry behind the crisis.
In the most recent example, the United States has filed a case at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to challenge India's use of subsidies and "buy local" rules in its domestic solar program. This case exemplifies the misguided and harmful impacts of these challenges. It is particularly important because of India's potential as one of the world's largest solar markets and because of the local and global benefits to India's transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
In order to understand the importance of this case, it is important to first understand the progress that the Indian government has made in supporting solar. India's solar mission provides strong support to solar deployment and includes a goal of developing 20,000 megawatts of solar power capacity by 2022. A key objective of the program is to boost the capacity of India to domestically manufacture solar panels. To achieve this objective, the government of India has required Indian developers of solar photovoltaic ("PV") projects using crystalline silicon technology to buy solar modules manufactured in India in order to take advantage of the programs benefits, including subsidies and guaranteed long-term competitive rates for solar power. These requirements to purchase locally manufactured solar panels are referred to as domestic content rules.
The government of India initially exempted thin film solar cells -- lower efficiency solar panels used in large-scale industrial solar projects -- from the domestic content rules because of low domestic capacity to manufacture such cells. This loophole created an opening for foreign countries, including the United States and China, to export thin-film cells to India. The U.S. exports of thin film solar cells to India have been particularly successful thanks to low interest loans from the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the Export-Import Bank.
The result is that foreign thin-film panels now dominate India's market. Whereas global thin film installations are a very small portion of total solar deployment, in India they are the vast majority. To correct this imbalance and protect India's solar manufacturers, India is now considering expanding the use of domestic content rules to thin-film technologies in the second phase of its program, which may curtail imports of U.S. solar panels to India.
Concerned about the impact that the potential expansion of India's domestic content rules to thin-film technologies would have on its exports, the United States filed a claim at the WTO. In its claim, the United States asserts that India's domestic content rules appear to have violated trade rules in the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs, the Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures, and the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures by allegedly providing more favorable treatment to domestic solar producers and products than to foreign ones.
According to WTO rules, the U.S. and India have 60 days to try to find a resolution. If no resolution is reached, the U.S. can then request the establishment of a WTO panel to determine whether India has violated trade rules. A recent WTO panel ruling which found that Ontario, Canada's domestic content rules in its renewable energy sectors violated trade rules does not bode well for India's case.
What's at Stake
Historically, as countries have industrialized, domestic content rules have been a standard policy tool used to foster, nurture, and grow their new industries. In this process, countries have sought to find the appropriate balance between allowing some degree of foreign competition while still protecting the new industry until it is internationally competitive.
In the case of India, allowing some degree of foreign competition may be important to stimulate its domestic companies to increase their efficiency and competitiveness. But, foreign competition must not undermine the ability of India to grow its own solar industry.
Here's why we think India must be in the driver's seat when it comes to determining the future of its renewable energy industry, and what is at stake in this case.
First, the growth and success of India's solar industry is being undermined by the power of its coal industry, which receives enormous subsidies and enjoys strong political backing in India. One way to challenge the power of the fossil fuel industry in India is to successfully develop a viable domestic renewable energy industry. The use of domestic content rules is one way to develop a domestic solar industry with skin in the game, which is necessary to counter the power of the fossil fuel industry.
Second, the presence of strong renewable energy industries in multiple countries, including India, can help spur competition and innovation that can ultimately drive down the global price of renewable energy technologies in the medium and long-term.
Third, local content rules can help increase the political support for renewable energy programs by generating multiple local benefits, including new investment opportunities in a growth industry, opportunities for technological innovation, job creation, and new sources of tax revenue. For a country like India, with hundreds of millions of people still living in poverty, these added benefits are critical.
And fourth, because our planet is at stake. Our global climate will remain in peril if only some countries develop renewable energy industries while others continue to rely on fossil fuels. There is absolutely no question that in order to avoid catastrophic climate impacts, all countries must be seriously investing in renewable energy technologies and transitioning away from fossil-fuels now. The global solar industry has seen significant gains in the last few years. In 2012, more than 100 gigawatts of solar PV were installed worldwide, breaking new records. Now is the time to encourage countries to keep developing their domestic solar capacity in order to tackle the climate crisis, not to slow this process with trade disputes.