UN wants taxes to fund climate change fight
A price on carbon emissions of $20 to $25 a tonne would be sufficient to raise the finance needed for poor countries to tackle greenhouse gas emissions, a panel of experts convened by the United Nations has concluded.
Setting a price on carbon – either through taxes or a cap-and-trade system – would raise at least $38bn of the $100bn a year that is expected to be needed by 2020, while other measures, including reducing the subsidies to fossil fuels and putting a carbon levy on international shipping and aviation, would raise the rest, according to a report published on Friday...
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UN climate panel calls for carbon and transport taxes
UNITED NATIONS — A top UN panel on Friday called for increased taxes on carbon emissions and air and sea transport to raise 100 billion dollars a year for poor nations to combat climate change.
The group led by the prime ministers of Norway and Ethiopia also proposed a tax on international financial transactions for a UN fund aiming to be ready by 2020.
The panel -- which also included finance ministers and financier George Soros -- was set up at last year's acrimonious Copenhagen climate summit and its proposals will get a first international airing at the UN climate conference in Cancun, Mexico starting at the end of the month...
[Full Article]World leaders look to carbon taxes to fund fight against climate change
International travel and ‘carbon intensive goods’ like petrol cars could all be taxed under new plans to raise £60 ($100) billion every year to help the poor world cope with global warming.
A ‘worldwide climate change fund’ has been discussed for years as a way of helping vulnerable countries cope with floods and droughts caused by temperature rise.
Now the radical idea has moved a step closer with a high level report from the United Nations about how the money will be raised.
The High Level Advisory Group on Climate Finance suggested the money should be raised through a combination of public and private sources.
The group, chaired by the Prime Ministers of Ethiopia and Norway, said money could be raised indirectly from taxing polluting transport and industry. For example a tax on international flights and carbon taxes on factories or fuel that are ultimately passed onto the consumer.
The group, that included the economist Lord Nicholas Stern and the financier George Soros, also suggested money could be raised from the private sector. For example by selling bonds that are paid back over time.
However it was made clear that a ‘Robin Hood Tax’ on financial transactions is unlikely because some rich countries are against it and not all the money would go to climate change...
