Institutional Mediation of Carbon Border Regulation: Policy Capacity and the Limited Effects of CBAM in Türkiye
Keywords:
Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), Climate Governance, Policy Capacity, Developing EconomiesAbstract
This study examines the domestic governance effects of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) in developing economies from an institutional policy capacity perspective. While existing CBAM research predominantly focuses on trade impacts, competitiveness losses, or carbon leakage risks, this article shifts the analytical focus to the domestic mediation of external climate regulation. Using Türkiye as an in-depth case study, the study employs qualitative policy analysis to investigate how external regulatory pressures interact with national analytical, operational, and political capacities. The findings suggest that CBAM does not automatically induce structural governance transformation. Instead, its domestic impact is conditioned by pre-existing policy capacity configurations. Although monitoring and reporting infrastructures have partially developed, limitations in carbon pricing mechanisms, inter-institutional coordination, and political legitimacy constrain deeper transformation, resulting in largely formal compliance. By conceptualizing CBAM’s effects as institutionally mediated rather than regulation-driven, the study contributes to the literature by integrating policy capacity theory into the analysis of climate-related trade instruments and offering a governance-centered explanation of limited transformation.
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