Brown Bag Seminar
16 Dec 2025
,
12:30
-
13:30
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Calendar Event (ICS)
Anna Nussbaum Auditorium and online,
Hallerstrasse 6, Bern, Switzerland
EU Climate Aid and Trade Interests: Strategic or Byproduct of Closer Ties?
To what extent do strategic trade-related considerations influence the European Union’s allocation of climate aid? As a major climate aid donor and a global trade power, the EU has frequently been shown to prioritize economic interests, particularly those of its export-oriented industries, in its external actions.
This paper investigates whether trade influences EU climate aid allocation and, if so, whether this effect reflects strategic efforts to enhance trade or is simply a byproduct of established ties and familiarity with trade partners. Using disaggregate data on both climate aid and trade flows, we assess whether the EU directs aid towards sectors that serve trade interests, especially those where its export stakes are high. Results from two-part regression models provide mixed evidence regarding strategic allocation: while we largely replicate the common finding that exports and climate aid are positively correlated at the aggregate level, we find only modest evidence that this relationship is indeed driven by trade-relevant sectors and sectors in which export interests are stronger. Beyond the EU case, the paper contributes to the broader literature on (climate) aid allocation and its links to trade, offering insight into the mechanisms that may shape this relationship.
About the speaker
Alexandra Bögner is a postdoctoral researcher in the Sustainability Research Group at the University of Basel where she investigates the implementation of sustainable supply chains due diligence legislations (such as the EU Deforestation Regulation or the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive) in the EXPECT-AGRI project led by Prof. Grabs.
Prior to joining the University of Basel, Alexandra Bögner was a doctoral researcher at the University of Salzburg’s Centre of European Union Studies (SCEUS). Her PhD thesis “Leveraging trade for climate” investigates how the EU employs different policy instruments to promote climate objectives towards its trade partners and how economic and other interest compete to shape the trade-climate nexus. During her PhD, she spent time as a visiting researcher at the University of Konstanz and the University of Antwerp.
Alexandra holds a joint Master’s degree in International Relations from the Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and University of Potsdam. She has also worked as a trade policy analyst in the private sector and as research assistant at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP).
