Recent years have seen renewed and growing interest in carbon taxes that put a price on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This resurgence in interest has come as over three-quarters of the world has developed Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement and is looking for cost-effective ways to achieve these emission reduction goals. It has also developed alongside a gradual shift toward taxes on goods and services, with many jurisdictions seeking to use the tax system to achieve greater economic efficiency and to pursue a range of policy goals beyond raising revenue. Experience has shown carbon taxes to be versatile instruments that are capable of being adapted to a wide range of policy goals and national contexts.
The Partnership for Market Readiness (PMR) 2017 Carbon Tax Guide: A Handbook for Policy Makers, prepared by Climate Focus together with its partners, the School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA), the University of Indiana, and the Gnarly Tree Sustainability Institute (GTSI), provides a practical tool to help policymakers determine whether a carbon tax is the right instrument to achieve their climate change policy goals, and to support them in designing and implementing a tax that is best suited to their specific needs, circumstances and objectives. The Guide provides both conceptual analysis and important practical lessons learned from implementing carbon taxes around the world.
