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Supporting Egypt's Industrial Decarbonization: The Role of DFIs in CBAM Alignment

The European Union’s (EU) Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) introduces a new linkage between trade and climate policy by requiring importers to report and pay for embedded emissions. For Egypt, characterized by high trade exposure to the EU through the export of carbon-intensive products, CB...

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Main Author: ElSaid, Malak
Format: Thesis
Published: AUC Knowledge Fountain 2025
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access_status_str Open Access
author ElSaid, Malak
author_browse ElSaid, Malak
author_facet ElSaid, Malak
author_sort ElSaid, Malak
collection Thesis
description The European Union’s (EU) Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) introduces a new linkage between trade and climate policy by requiring importers to report and pay for embedded emissions. For Egypt, characterized by high trade exposure to the EU through the export of carbon-intensive products, CBAM serves as a regulatory catalyst for industrial transformation, posing significant competitiveness risks. Recent assessments indicate that the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region faces a significant CBAM burden, approximately three times that of other emerging market and developing economies. Utilizing the Institutional-Capacity Response Model as an analytical tool, this study examines how such external regulatory pressure interacts with domestic institutional alignment and firm-level capabilities to navigate industrial decarbonization. Drawing on a purposive sample of ten semi-structured interviews with industrial leaders and development and policy experts, the research provides a qualitative, exploratory, case-specific assessment of Egypt’s readiness. Findings reveal a structural “capacity trap” defined by: (1) a gap between rising awareness and technical preparedness; (2) weak and non-standardized Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) systems; (3) high capital costs; and (4) fragmented policy coordination. The research identifies Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) as critical institutional intermediaries in addressing these barriers. Accordingly, the study recommends establishing an Industrial Decarbonization Accelerator (IDA), an integrated governance and investment platform designed to enable Egypt’s transition from reactive compliance to proactive global competitiveness.
format Thesis
id oai:fount.aucegypt.edu:etds-3780
institution American University in Cairo (Egypt)
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:36:03.647Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from AUC Knowledge Fountain — bepress
publishDate 2025
publishDateRange 2025
publishDateSort 2025
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source_str AUC Knowledge Fountain — bepress
spelling oai:fount.aucegypt.edu:etds-3780 Supporting Egypt's Industrial Decarbonization: The Role of DFIs in CBAM Alignment ElSaid, Malak The European Union’s (EU) Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) introduces a new linkage between trade and climate policy by requiring importers to report and pay for embedded emissions. For Egypt, characterized by high trade exposure to the EU through the export of carbon-intensive products, CBAM serves as a regulatory catalyst for industrial transformation, posing significant competitiveness risks. Recent assessments indicate that the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region faces a significant CBAM burden, approximately three times that of other emerging market and developing economies. Utilizing the Institutional-Capacity Response Model as an analytical tool, this study examines how such external regulatory pressure interacts with domestic institutional alignment and firm-level capabilities to navigate industrial decarbonization. Drawing on a purposive sample of ten semi-structured interviews with industrial leaders and development and policy experts, the research provides a qualitative, exploratory, case-specific assessment of Egypt’s readiness. Findings reveal a structural “capacity trap” defined by: (1) a gap between rising awareness and technical preparedness; (2) weak and non-standardized Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) systems; (3) high capital costs; and (4) fragmented policy coordination. The research identifies Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) as critical institutional intermediaries in addressing these barriers. Accordingly, the study recommends establishing an Industrial Decarbonization Accelerator (IDA), an integrated governance and investment platform designed to enable Egypt’s transition from reactive compliance to proactive global competitiveness. 2025-02-15T08:00:00Z thesis application/pdf https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/2718 https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/3780/viewcontent/Malak_ElSaid_Thesis.pdf Theses and Dissertations AUC Knowledge Fountain Keywords: CBAM; industrial decarbonization; Egypt; development finance institutions; MRV systems; climate-trade governance; competitiveness; absorptive capacity; tariff equivalent.
spellingShingle Keywords: CBAM; industrial decarbonization; Egypt; development finance institutions; MRV systems; climate-trade governance; competitiveness; absorptive capacity; tariff equivalent.
ElSaid, Malak
Supporting Egypt's Industrial Decarbonization: The Role of DFIs in CBAM Alignment
title Supporting Egypt's Industrial Decarbonization: The Role of DFIs in CBAM Alignment
title_full Supporting Egypt's Industrial Decarbonization: The Role of DFIs in CBAM Alignment
title_fullStr Supporting Egypt's Industrial Decarbonization: The Role of DFIs in CBAM Alignment
title_full_unstemmed Supporting Egypt's Industrial Decarbonization: The Role of DFIs in CBAM Alignment
title_short Supporting Egypt's Industrial Decarbonization: The Role of DFIs in CBAM Alignment
title_sort supporting egypt s industrial decarbonization the role of dfis in cbam alignment
topic Keywords: CBAM; industrial decarbonization; Egypt; development finance institutions; MRV systems; climate-trade governance; competitiveness; absorptive capacity; tariff equivalent.
url https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/2718
https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/3780/viewcontent/Malak_ElSaid_Thesis.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT elsaidmalak supportingegyptsindustrialdecarbonizationtheroleofdfisincbamalignment