posts: 53526
Data license: CC-BY
This data as json
id | title | slug | type | status | content | archieml | archieml_update_statistics | published_at | updated_at | gdocSuccessorId | authors | excerpt | created_at_in_wordpress | updated_at_in_wordpress | featured_image | formattingOptions | markdown | wpApiSnapshot |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
53526 | Which countries have put a price on carbon? | carbon-pricing | post | publish | <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The true cost of burning fossil fuels is not reflected in their market price. People <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/cheap-renewables-growth">often compare</a> the <em>monetary price</em> of fossil fuels to low-carbon alternatives such as renewables or nuclear energy. But these comparisons do not capture each option’s social impact, even in a purely economic sense.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Burning fossil fuels drives <a href="http://ourworldindata.org/climate-change">climate change</a>. The impacts of climate change come at a cost – these impacts are already happening.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>They also cause local air pollution, which <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/data-review-air-pollution-deaths">kills millions</a> every year and has negative health impacts for many more.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One way to address this is to put a price on carbon. The purpose of setting a carbon price is to capture some of these external costs in the market.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>My colleague, Max Roser, wrote a detailed case for a carbon price <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/carbon-price"><strong>here</strong></a>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Putting a price on carbon achieves a couple of things. First, it makes more polluting fuels, products, and services more expensive. Burning coal becomes <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/safest-sources-of-energy">much more expensive</a> than using solar energy. Beef gets <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/food-footprints">more expensive</a> relative to tofu or meat alternatives. It makes the ‘cleaner’ option less expensive.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Second, it means it’s those who emit greenhouse gases that pay for it.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There are a few policies through which countries can put a price on carbon:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list --> <ul><li><strong>Carbon tax: </strong>this is a levy that is applied to the production of greenhouse gas emissions directly or fuels that emit these gases when they’re burned. This means goods and services which emit more greenhouse gases in their production will have a higher tax.</li><li><strong>Emissions trading system: </strong>this is sometimes called a ‘cap and trade’ system. Here, the carbon price changes over time. A maximum level of pollution (a ‘cap’) is defined and manufacturers need licenses to emit greenhouse gases. How expensive these licenses are is determined by a trading system. The price of a license increases as emissions approach the cap.</li></ul> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Many countries have adopted carbon pricing instruments.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In this article, we provide an overview of which countries have them, and how the price of carbon is changing over time. The underlying data – from the <a href="https://www.rff.org/publications/working-papers/world-carbon-pricing-database-sources-and-methods/">World Carbon Pricing Dataset</a> – is updated annually.{ref}Dolphin, G., & Xiahou, Q. (2022). <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-022-01659-x">World Carbon Pricing Database: Sources and Methods</a>. <em>Nature Scientific Data</em>.{/ref} It is assembled by Geoffroy Dolphin. We will keep the data in this article updated. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3>Which countries have a carbon tax?</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:columns --> <div class="wp-block-columns"><!-- wp:column --> <div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The first chart shows which countries have implemented a carbon tax.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It’s often the case that only specific sectors, or specific fuels, in a given country are subject to a carbon tax. For example, heavy industry or household electricity might have a carbon tax, but road transport might not.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A country is coded as having a carbon tax if <em>any</em> of its sectors have one. This means the country does not necessarily have an economy-wide tax in place. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One final note: the World Carbon Pricing Database only looks at taxes applied to carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) emissions. It does not consider taxes on non-CO<sub>2 </sub>greenhouse gases, such as methane or nitrous oxide.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --></div> <!-- /wp:column --> <!-- wp:column --> <div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:html --> <iframe src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/carbon-tax-instruments" loading="lazy" style="width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;"></iframe> <!-- /wp:html --></div> <!-- /wp:column --></div> <!-- /wp:columns --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>What is the level of carbon taxes?</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:columns --> <div class="wp-block-columns"><!-- wp:column --> <div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Having a carbon tax does not guarantee that it will be effective. The level of carbon tax rates matters. It needs to be sufficiently expensive to de-incentivize carbon-emitting activities, and incentivize low-carbon ones.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the chart, we see the carbon price in countries that have implemented a tax.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Since carbon prices might vary from sector to sector, or some sectors will have a carbon price while others won’t, the authors calculate an ‘emissions-weighted’ carbon price. This price is weighted according to each sector’s contribution to a country’s CO<sub>2</sub> emissions.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --></div> <!-- /wp:column --> <!-- wp:column --> <div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:html --> <iframe src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/emissions-weighted-carbon-price?tab=map" loading="lazy" style="width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;"></iframe> <!-- /wp:html --></div> <!-- /wp:column --></div> <!-- /wp:columns --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3>Which countries have a carbon emissions trading system?</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:columns --> <div class="wp-block-columns"><!-- wp:column --> <div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The alternative to a carbon tax is a ‘cap and trade’ system. This is where the number of emission allowances/licenses, or the amount that a country or sector can emit, is fixed. Companies and sectors within the economy can then buy and sell carbon credits. This supply and demand determine the price of carbon in the marketplace.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The most well-known ‘cap and trade’ system is the European Union’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union_Emissions_Trading_System">Emissions Trading System</a> (EU ETS). It was first introduced in 2005.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>But a number of other countries have implemented one at the national or sub-national level.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the chart, we see which countries have implemented an emissions trading system. Again, a country is coded as having a system if at least one sector is covered by one.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --></div> <!-- /wp:column --> <!-- wp:column --> <div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:html --> <iframe src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/carbon-emissions-trading-system" loading="lazy" style="width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;"></iframe> <!-- /wp:html --></div> <!-- /wp:column --></div> <!-- /wp:columns --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --> <h4>What is the carbon price in emissions trading systems?</h4> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:columns --> <div class="wp-block-columns"><!-- wp:column --> <div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The supply and demand for carbon credits within an economy determines the carbon price. If the amount of available credits is low compared to demand, then the price will be higher. If there are many available credits then the price will be low, and companies will not be incentivized to reduce their emissions. This means the carbon price changes over time.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the map, we see the carbon price in emissions trading systems across the world. Again, if the price varies by sector, these prices are weighted by each sector’s contribution to the country’s CO<sub>2</sub> emissions.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --></div> <!-- /wp:column --> <!-- wp:column --> <div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:html --> <iframe src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/weighted-carbon-price-ets" loading="lazy" style="width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;"></iframe> <!-- /wp:html --></div> <!-- /wp:column --></div> <!-- /wp:columns --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3>How much of the world’s CO<sub>2</sub> emissions are covered by a carbon tax or emissions trading system?</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:columns {"className":"is-style-side-by-side"} --> <div class="wp-block-columns is-style-side-by-side"><!-- wp:column --> <div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>If we want the climate cost of fuels and products to be reflected in their market price we would want a carbon pricing mechanism everywhere.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p> In 2020, around 12% of emissions were in countries or sectors that had a carbon tax. Just 6% were covered by a trading system. This means that, in total, a carbon price had to be paid on 18% of global emissions.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We see the share of global CO<sub>2</sub> emissions that are covered by each in the chart. The map also shows the share of emissions in each country that are covered by either a carbon tax or emissions trading system.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This data is currently only shown to 2020. As of 2021, this coverage expanded dramatically – to 25% of global CO<sub>2</sub> emissions – because China started its national emissions trading system. This will be reflected in the next update of this dataset.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --></div> <!-- /wp:column --> <!-- wp:column --> <div class="wp-block-column"></div> <!-- /wp:column --></div> <!-- /wp:columns --> <!-- wp:columns {"className":"is-style-side-by-side"} --> <div class="wp-block-columns is-style-side-by-side"><!-- wp:column --> <div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:html --> <iframe src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/carbon-tax-trading-coverage?tab=chart&country=~OWID_WRL" loading="lazy" style="width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;"></iframe> <!-- /wp:html --></div> <!-- /wp:column --> <!-- wp:column --> <div class="wp-block-column"><!-- wp:html --> <iframe src="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/carbon-tax-trading-coverage?tab=map&country=~OWID_WRL" loading="lazy" style="width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;"></iframe> <!-- /wp:html --></div> <!-- /wp:column --></div> <!-- /wp:columns --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":5} --> <h5>Keep reading at <em>Our World in Data</em></h5> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:owid/prominent-link {"title":"","linkUrl":"https://ourworldindata.org/carbon-price","className":"is-style-thin"} /--> <!-- wp:owid/prominent-link {"title":"","linkUrl":"https://ourworldindata.org/cheap-renewables-growth","className":"is-style-thin"} /--> <!-- wp:owid/prominent-link {"title":"","linkUrl":"https://ourworldindata.org/data-review-air-pollution-deaths","className":"is-style-thin"} /--> <!-- wp:heading {"level":5} --> <h5>Acknowledgments</h5> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Many thanks to Geoffroy Dolphin and Felix Pretis for the provision of data from the World Carbon Pricing Database, and feedback on this work. Thanks also to Max Roser, Edouard Mathieu and Bastian Herre for editorial feedback on this article.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> | { "id": "wp-53526", "slug": "carbon-pricing", "content": { "toc": [], "body": [ { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "The true cost of burning fossil fuels is not reflected in their market price. People ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/cheap-renewables-growth", "children": [ { "text": "often compare", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " the ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "monetary price", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": " of fossil fuels to low-carbon alternatives such as renewables or nuclear energy. But these comparisons do not capture each option\u2019s social impact, even in a purely economic sense.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Burning fossil fuels drives ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "http://ourworldindata.org/climate-change", "children": [ { "text": "climate change", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ". The impacts of climate change come at a cost \u2013 these impacts are already happening.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "They also cause local air pollution, which ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/data-review-air-pollution-deaths", "children": [ { "text": "kills millions", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " every year and has negative health impacts for many more.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "One way to address this is to put a price on carbon. The purpose of setting a carbon price is to capture some of these external costs in the market.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "My colleague, Max Roser, wrote a detailed case for a carbon price ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/carbon-price", "children": [ { "children": [ { "text": "here", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ".", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Putting a price on carbon achieves a couple of things. First, it makes more polluting fuels, products, and services more expensive. Burning coal becomes ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/safest-sources-of-energy", "children": [ { "text": "much more expensive", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " than using solar energy. Beef gets ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/food-footprints", "children": [ { "text": "more expensive", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " relative to tofu or meat alternatives. It makes the \u2018cleaner\u2019 option less expensive.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Second, it means it\u2019s those who emit greenhouse gases that pay for it.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "There are a few policies through which countries can put a price on carbon:", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "list", "items": [ { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Carbon tax: ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "this is a levy that is applied to the production of greenhouse gas emissions directly or fuels that emit these gases when they\u2019re burned. This means goods and services which emit more greenhouse gases in their production will have a higher tax.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "children": [ { "text": "Emissions trading system: ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-bold" }, { "text": "this is sometimes called a \u2018cap and trade\u2019 system. Here, the carbon price changes over time. A maximum level of pollution (a \u2018cap\u2019) is defined and manufacturers need licenses to emit greenhouse gases. How expensive these licenses are is determined by a trading system. The price of a license increases as emissions approach the cap.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Many countries have adopted carbon pricing instruments.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "In this article, we provide an overview of which countries have them, and how the price of carbon is changing over time. The underlying data \u2013 from the ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://www.rff.org/publications/working-papers/world-carbon-pricing-database-sources-and-methods/", "children": [ { "text": "World Carbon Pricing Dataset", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " \u2013 is updated annually.{ref}Dolphin, G., & Xiahou, Q. (2022). ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-022-01659-x", "children": [ { "text": "World Carbon Pricing Database: Sources and Methods", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": ". ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "Nature Scientific Data", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": ".{/ref} It is assembled by Geoffroy Dolphin. We will keep the data in this article updated. ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Which countries have a carbon tax?", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 2, "parseErrors": [] }, { "left": [ { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "The first chart shows which countries have implemented a carbon tax.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "It\u2019s often the case that only specific sectors, or specific fuels, in a given country are subject to a carbon tax. For example, heavy industry or household electricity might have a carbon tax, but road transport might not.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "A country is coded as having a carbon tax if ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "any", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" }, { "text": " of its sectors have one. This means the country does not\u00a0necessarily\u00a0have an economy-wide tax in place. ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "One final note: the World Carbon Pricing Database only looks at taxes applied to carbon dioxide (CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": ") emissions. It does not consider taxes on non-CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2 ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": "greenhouse gases, such as methane or nitrous oxide.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] } ], "type": "sticky-right", "right": [ { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/carbon-tax-instruments", "type": "chart", "parseErrors": [] } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "What is the level of carbon taxes?", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 3, "parseErrors": [] }, { "left": [ { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Having a carbon tax does not guarantee that it will be effective. The level of carbon tax rates matters. It needs to be sufficiently expensive to de-incentivize carbon-emitting activities, and incentivize low-carbon ones.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "In the chart, we see the carbon price in countries that have implemented a tax.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Since carbon prices might vary from sector to sector, or some sectors will have a carbon price while others won\u2019t, the authors calculate an \u2018emissions-weighted\u2019 carbon price. This price is weighted according to each sector\u2019s contribution to a country\u2019s CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] } ], "type": "sticky-right", "right": [ { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/emissions-weighted-carbon-price?tab=map", "type": "chart", "parseErrors": [] } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Which countries have a carbon emissions trading system?", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 2, "parseErrors": [] }, { "left": [ { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "The alternative to a carbon tax is a \u2018cap and trade\u2019 system. This is where the number of emission allowances/licenses, or the amount that a country or sector can emit, is fixed. Companies and sectors within the economy can then buy and sell carbon credits. This supply and demand determine the price of carbon in the marketplace.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "The most well-known \u2018cap and trade\u2019 system is the European Union\u2019s ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union_Emissions_Trading_System", "children": [ { "text": "Emissions Trading System", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-link" }, { "text": " (EU ETS). It was first introduced in 2005.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "But a number of other countries have implemented one at the national or sub-national level.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "In the chart, we see which countries have implemented an emissions trading system. Again, a country is coded as having a system if at least one sector is covered by one.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] } ], "type": "sticky-right", "right": [ { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/carbon-emissions-trading-system", "type": "chart", "parseErrors": [] } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "What is the carbon price in emissions trading systems?", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 3, "parseErrors": [] }, { "left": [ { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "The supply and demand for carbon credits within an economy determines the carbon price. If the amount of available credits is low compared to demand, then the price will be higher. If there are many available credits then the price will be low, and companies will not be incentivized to reduce their emissions. This means the carbon price changes over time.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "In the map, we see the carbon price in emissions trading systems across the world. Again, if the price varies by sector, these prices are weighted by each sector\u2019s contribution to the country\u2019s CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] } ], "type": "sticky-right", "right": [ { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/weighted-carbon-price-ets", "type": "chart", "parseErrors": [] } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "How much of the world\u2019s CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions are covered by a carbon tax or emissions trading system?", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 2, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "If we want the climate cost of fuels and products to be reflected in their market price we would want a carbon pricing mechanism everywhere.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": " In 2020, around 12% of emissions were in countries or sectors that had a carbon tax. Just 6% were covered by a trading system. This means that, in total, a carbon price had to be paid on 18% of global emissions.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "We see the share of global CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions that are covered by each in the chart. The map also shows the share of emissions in each country that are covered by either a carbon tax or emissions trading system.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "This data is currently only shown to 2020. As of 2021, this coverage expanded dramatically \u2013 to 25% of global CO", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "2", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-subscript" }, { "text": " emissions \u2013 because China started its national emissions trading system. This will be reflected in the next update of this dataset.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "left": [ { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/carbon-tax-trading-coverage?tab=chart&country=~OWID_WRL", "type": "chart", "parseErrors": [] } ], "type": "sticky-right", "right": [ { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/carbon-tax-trading-coverage?tab=map&country=~OWID_WRL", "type": "chart", "parseErrors": [] } ], "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Keep reading at ", "spanType": "span-simple-text" }, { "children": [ { "text": "Our World in Data", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "spanType": "span-italic" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 4, "parseErrors": [] }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/carbon-price", "type": "prominent-link", "title": "", "description": "", "parseErrors": [] }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/cheap-renewables-growth", "type": "prominent-link", "title": "", "description": "", "parseErrors": [] }, { "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/data-review-air-pollution-deaths", "type": "prominent-link", "title": "", "description": "", "parseErrors": [] }, { "text": [ { "text": "Acknowledgments", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "type": "heading", "level": 4, "parseErrors": [] }, { "type": "text", "value": [ { "text": "Many thanks to Geoffroy Dolphin and Felix Pretis for the provision of data from the World Carbon Pricing Database, and feedback on this work. Thanks also to Max Roser, Edouard Mathieu and Bastian Herre for editorial feedback on this article.", "spanType": "span-simple-text" } ], "parseErrors": [] } ], "type": "article", "title": "Which countries have put a price on carbon?", "authors": [ "Hannah Ritchie", "Pablo Rosado" ], "excerpt": "Putting a price on carbon helps us account for the real costs of fossil fuels in the market. Which countries have a carbon tax or trading system?", "dateline": "October 14, 2022", "subtitle": "Putting a price on carbon helps us account for the real costs of fossil fuels in the market. Which countries have a carbon tax or trading system?", "sidebar-toc": false, "featured-image": "Carbon-taxes-featured-image.png" }, "createdAt": "2022-10-11T10:22:07.000Z", "published": false, "updatedAt": "2022-10-14T11:06:38.000Z", "revisionId": null, "publishedAt": "2022-10-14T10:00:00.000Z", "relatedCharts": [], "publicationContext": "listed" } |
{ "errors": [ { "name": "unexpected wp component tag", "details": "Found unhandled wp:comment tag list" } ], "numBlocks": 31, "numErrors": 1, "wpTagCounts": { "html": 6, "list": 1, "column": 12, "columns": 6, "heading": 7, "paragraph": 28, "owid/prominent-link": 3 }, "htmlTagCounts": { "p": 28, "h3": 3, "h4": 2, "h5": 2, "ul": 1, "div": 18, "iframe": 6 } } |
2022-10-14 10:00:00 | 2024-02-16 14:22:54 | 1a7detrKx0jOujqXN9k0pj0wPiE-NnbC4r7xAUeimgiA | [ "Hannah Ritchie", "Pablo Rosado" ] |
Putting a price on carbon helps us account for the real costs of fossil fuels in the market. Which countries have a carbon tax or trading system? | 2022-10-11 10:22:07 | 2022-10-14 11:06:38 | https://ourworldindata.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Carbon-taxes-featured-image.png | {} |
The true cost of burning fossil fuels is not reflected in their market price. People [often compare](https://ourworldindata.org/cheap-renewables-growth) the _monetary price_ of fossil fuels to low-carbon alternatives such as renewables or nuclear energy. But these comparisons do not capture each option’s social impact, even in a purely economic sense. Burning fossil fuels drives [climate change](http://ourworldindata.org/climate-change). The impacts of climate change come at a cost – these impacts are already happening. They also cause local air pollution, which [kills millions](https://ourworldindata.org/data-review-air-pollution-deaths) every year and has negative health impacts for many more. One way to address this is to put a price on carbon. The purpose of setting a carbon price is to capture some of these external costs in the market. My colleague, Max Roser, wrote a detailed case for a carbon price [**here**](https://ourworldindata.org/carbon-price). Putting a price on carbon achieves a couple of things. First, it makes more polluting fuels, products, and services more expensive. Burning coal becomes [much more expensive](https://ourworldindata.org/safest-sources-of-energy) than using solar energy. Beef gets [more expensive](https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/food-footprints) relative to tofu or meat alternatives. It makes the ‘cleaner’ option less expensive. Second, it means it’s those who emit greenhouse gases that pay for it. There are a few policies through which countries can put a price on carbon: * **Carbon tax: **this is a levy that is applied to the production of greenhouse gas emissions directly or fuels that emit these gases when they’re burned. This means goods and services which emit more greenhouse gases in their production will have a higher tax. * **Emissions trading system: **this is sometimes called a ‘cap and trade’ system. Here, the carbon price changes over time. A maximum level of pollution (a ‘cap’) is defined and manufacturers need licenses to emit greenhouse gases. How expensive these licenses are is determined by a trading system. The price of a license increases as emissions approach the cap. Many countries have adopted carbon pricing instruments. In this article, we provide an overview of which countries have them, and how the price of carbon is changing over time. The underlying data – from the [World Carbon Pricing Dataset](https://www.rff.org/publications/working-papers/world-carbon-pricing-database-sources-and-methods/) – is updated annually.{ref}Dolphin, G., & Xiahou, Q. (2022). [World Carbon Pricing Database: Sources and Methods](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-022-01659-x). _Nature Scientific Data_.{/ref} It is assembled by Geoffroy Dolphin. We will keep the data in this article updated. ## Which countries have a carbon tax? The first chart shows which countries have implemented a carbon tax. It’s often the case that only specific sectors, or specific fuels, in a given country are subject to a carbon tax. For example, heavy industry or household electricity might have a carbon tax, but road transport might not. A country is coded as having a carbon tax if _any_ of its sectors have one. This means the country does not necessarily have an economy-wide tax in place. One final note: the World Carbon Pricing Database only looks at taxes applied to carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. It does not consider taxes on non-CO2 greenhouse gases, such as methane or nitrous oxide. <Chart url="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/carbon-tax-instruments"/> ### What is the level of carbon taxes? Having a carbon tax does not guarantee that it will be effective. The level of carbon tax rates matters. It needs to be sufficiently expensive to de-incentivize carbon-emitting activities, and incentivize low-carbon ones. In the chart, we see the carbon price in countries that have implemented a tax. Since carbon prices might vary from sector to sector, or some sectors will have a carbon price while others won’t, the authors calculate an ‘emissions-weighted’ carbon price. This price is weighted according to each sector’s contribution to a country’s CO2 emissions. <Chart url="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/emissions-weighted-carbon-price?tab=map"/> ## Which countries have a carbon emissions trading system? The alternative to a carbon tax is a ‘cap and trade’ system. This is where the number of emission allowances/licenses, or the amount that a country or sector can emit, is fixed. Companies and sectors within the economy can then buy and sell carbon credits. This supply and demand determine the price of carbon in the marketplace. The most well-known ‘cap and trade’ system is the European Union’s [Emissions Trading System](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union_Emissions_Trading_System) (EU ETS). It was first introduced in 2005. But a number of other countries have implemented one at the national or sub-national level. In the chart, we see which countries have implemented an emissions trading system. Again, a country is coded as having a system if at least one sector is covered by one. <Chart url="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/carbon-emissions-trading-system"/> ### What is the carbon price in emissions trading systems? The supply and demand for carbon credits within an economy determines the carbon price. If the amount of available credits is low compared to demand, then the price will be higher. If there are many available credits then the price will be low, and companies will not be incentivized to reduce their emissions. This means the carbon price changes over time. In the map, we see the carbon price in emissions trading systems across the world. Again, if the price varies by sector, these prices are weighted by each sector’s contribution to the country’s CO2 emissions. <Chart url="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/weighted-carbon-price-ets"/> ## How much of the world’s CO2 emissions are covered by a carbon tax or emissions trading system? If we want the climate cost of fuels and products to be reflected in their market price we would want a carbon pricing mechanism everywhere. In 2020, around 12% of emissions were in countries or sectors that had a carbon tax. Just 6% were covered by a trading system. This means that, in total, a carbon price had to be paid on 18% of global emissions. We see the share of global CO2 emissions that are covered by each in the chart. The map also shows the share of emissions in each country that are covered by either a carbon tax or emissions trading system. This data is currently only shown to 2020. As of 2021, this coverage expanded dramatically – to 25% of global CO2 emissions – because China started its national emissions trading system. This will be reflected in the next update of this dataset. <Chart url="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/carbon-tax-trading-coverage?tab=chart&country=~OWID_WRL"/> <Chart url="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/carbon-tax-trading-coverage?tab=map&country=~OWID_WRL"/> #### Keep reading at _Our World in Data_ ### https://ourworldindata.org/carbon-price ### https://ourworldindata.org/cheap-renewables-growth ### https://ourworldindata.org/data-review-air-pollution-deaths #### Acknowledgments Many thanks to Geoffroy Dolphin and Felix Pretis for the provision of data from the World Carbon Pricing Database, and feedback on this work. Thanks also to Max Roser, Edouard Mathieu and Bastian Herre for editorial feedback on this article. | { "id": 53526, "date": "2022-10-14T11:00:00", "guid": { "rendered": "https://owid.cloud/?p=53526" }, "link": "https://owid.cloud/carbon-pricing", "meta": { "owid_publication_context_meta_field": { "latest": true, "homepage": true, "immediate_newsletter": true } }, "slug": "carbon-pricing", "tags": [], "type": "post", "title": { "rendered": "Which countries have put a price on carbon?" }, "_links": { "self": [ { "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/53526" } ], "about": [ { "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/types/post" } ], "author": [ { "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/users/17", "embeddable": true } ], "curies": [ { "href": "https://api.w.org/{rel}", "name": "wp", "templated": true } ], "replies": [ { "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/comments?post=53526", "embeddable": true } ], "wp:term": [ { "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/categories?post=53526", "taxonomy": "category", "embeddable": true }, { "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/tags?post=53526", "taxonomy": "post_tag", "embeddable": true } ], "collection": [ { "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/posts" } ], "wp:attachment": [ { "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/media?parent=53526" } ], "version-history": [ { "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/53526/revisions", "count": 12 } ], "wp:featuredmedia": [ { "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/media/53529", "embeddable": true } ], "predecessor-version": [ { "id": 53664, "href": "https://owid.cloud/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/53526/revisions/53664" } ] }, "author": 17, "format": "standard", "status": "publish", "sticky": false, "content": { "rendered": "\n<p>The true cost of burning fossil fuels is not reflected in their market price. People <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/cheap-renewables-growth\">often compare</a> the <em>monetary price</em> of fossil fuels to low-carbon alternatives such as renewables or nuclear energy. But these comparisons do not capture each option\u2019s social impact, even in a purely economic sense.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Burning fossil fuels drives <a href=\"http://ourworldindata.org/climate-change\">climate change</a>. The impacts of climate change come at a cost \u2013 these impacts are already happening.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>They also cause local air pollution, which <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/data-review-air-pollution-deaths\">kills millions</a> every year and has negative health impacts for many more.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>One way to address this is to put a price on carbon. The purpose of setting a carbon price is to capture some of these external costs in the market.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>My colleague, Max Roser, wrote a detailed case for a carbon price <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/carbon-price\"><strong>here</strong></a>.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Putting a price on carbon achieves a couple of things. First, it makes more polluting fuels, products, and services more expensive. Burning coal becomes <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/safest-sources-of-energy\">much more expensive</a> than using solar energy. Beef gets <a href=\"https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/food-footprints\">more expensive</a> relative to tofu or meat alternatives. It makes the \u2018cleaner\u2019 option less expensive.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Second, it means it\u2019s those who emit greenhouse gases that pay for it.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are a few policies through which countries can put a price on carbon:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>Carbon tax: </strong>this is a levy that is applied to the production of greenhouse gas emissions directly or fuels that emit these gases when they\u2019re burned. This means goods and services which emit more greenhouse gases in their production will have a higher tax.</li><li><strong>Emissions trading system: </strong>this is sometimes called a \u2018cap and trade\u2019 system. Here, the carbon price changes over time. A maximum level of pollution (a \u2018cap\u2019) is defined and manufacturers need licenses to emit greenhouse gases. How expensive these licenses are is determined by a trading system. The price of a license increases as emissions approach the cap.</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Many countries have adopted carbon pricing instruments.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this article, we provide an overview of which countries have them, and how the price of carbon is changing over time. The underlying data \u2013 from the <a href=\"https://www.rff.org/publications/working-papers/world-carbon-pricing-database-sources-and-methods/\">World Carbon Pricing Dataset</a> \u2013 is updated annually.{ref}Dolphin, G., & Xiahou, Q. (2022). <a href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-022-01659-x\">World Carbon Pricing Database: Sources and Methods</a>. <em>Nature Scientific Data</em>.{/ref} It is assembled by Geoffroy Dolphin. We will keep the data in this article updated. </p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Which countries have a carbon tax?</h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<p>The first chart shows which countries have implemented a carbon tax.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s often the case that only specific sectors, or specific fuels, in a given country are subject to a carbon tax. For example, heavy industry or household electricity might have a carbon tax, but road transport might not.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>A country is coded as having a carbon tax if <em>any</em> of its sectors have one. This means the country does not necessarily have an economy-wide tax in place. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>One final note: the World Carbon Pricing Database only looks at taxes applied to carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) emissions. It does not consider taxes on non-CO<sub>2 </sub>greenhouse gases, such as methane or nitrous oxide.</p>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<iframe src=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/carbon-tax-instruments\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;\"></iframe>\n</div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<h4>What is the level of carbon taxes?</h4>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<p>Having a carbon tax does not guarantee that it will be effective. The level of carbon tax rates matters. It needs to be sufficiently expensive to de-incentivize carbon-emitting activities, and incentivize low-carbon ones.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the chart, we see the carbon price in countries that have implemented a tax.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since carbon prices might vary from sector to sector, or some sectors will have a carbon price while others won\u2019t, the authors calculate an \u2018emissions-weighted\u2019 carbon price. This price is weighted according to each sector\u2019s contribution to a country\u2019s CO<sub>2</sub> emissions.</p>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<iframe src=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/emissions-weighted-carbon-price?tab=map\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;\"></iframe>\n</div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<h3>Which countries have a carbon emissions trading system?</h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<p>The alternative to a carbon tax is a \u2018cap and trade\u2019 system. This is where the number of emission allowances/licenses, or the amount that a country or sector can emit, is fixed. Companies and sectors within the economy can then buy and sell carbon credits. This supply and demand determine the price of carbon in the marketplace.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>The most well-known \u2018cap and trade\u2019 system is the European Union\u2019s <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union_Emissions_Trading_System\">Emissions Trading System</a> (EU ETS). It was first introduced in 2005.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>But a number of other countries have implemented one at the national or sub-national level.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the chart, we see which countries have implemented an emissions trading system. Again, a country is coded as having a system if at least one sector is covered by one.</p>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<iframe src=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/carbon-emissions-trading-system\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;\"></iframe>\n</div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<h4>What is the carbon price in emissions trading systems?</h4>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<p>The supply and demand for carbon credits within an economy determines the carbon price. If the amount of available credits is low compared to demand, then the price will be higher. If there are many available credits then the price will be low, and companies will not be incentivized to reduce their emissions. This means the carbon price changes over time.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the map, we see the carbon price in emissions trading systems across the world. Again, if the price varies by sector, these prices are weighted by each sector\u2019s contribution to the country\u2019s CO<sub>2</sub> emissions.</p>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<iframe src=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/weighted-carbon-price-ets\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;\"></iframe>\n</div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<h3>How much of the world\u2019s CO<sub>2</sub> emissions are covered by a carbon tax or emissions trading system?</h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-style-side-by-side\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<p>If we want the climate cost of fuels and products to be reflected in their market price we would want a carbon pricing mechanism everywhere.</p>\n\n\n\n<p> In 2020, around 12% of emissions were in countries or sectors that had a carbon tax. Just 6% were covered by a trading system. This means that, in total, a carbon price had to be paid on 18% of global emissions.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>We see the share of global CO<sub>2</sub> emissions that are covered by each in the chart. The map also shows the share of emissions in each country that are covered by either a carbon tax or emissions trading system.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>This data is currently only shown to 2020. As of 2021, this coverage expanded dramatically \u2013 to 25% of global CO<sub>2</sub> emissions \u2013 because China started its national emissions trading system. This will be reflected in the next update of this dataset.</p>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\"></div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-style-side-by-side\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<iframe src=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/carbon-tax-trading-coverage?tab=chart&country=~OWID_WRL\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;\"></iframe>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\">\n<iframe src=\"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/carbon-tax-trading-coverage?tab=map&country=~OWID_WRL\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;\"></iframe>\n</div>\n</div>\n\n\n\n<h5>Keep reading at <em>Our World in Data</em></h5>\n\n\n <block type=\"prominent-link\" style=\"is-style-thin\">\n <link-url>https://ourworldindata.org/carbon-price</link-url>\n <title></title>\n <content></content>\n <figure></figure>\n </block>\n\n <block type=\"prominent-link\" style=\"is-style-thin\">\n <link-url>https://ourworldindata.org/cheap-renewables-growth</link-url>\n <title></title>\n <content></content>\n <figure></figure>\n </block>\n\n <block type=\"prominent-link\" style=\"is-style-thin\">\n <link-url>https://ourworldindata.org/data-review-air-pollution-deaths</link-url>\n <title></title>\n <content></content>\n <figure></figure>\n </block>\n\n\n<h5>Acknowledgments</h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Many thanks to Geoffroy Dolphin and Felix Pretis for the provision of data from the World Carbon Pricing Database, and feedback on this work. Thanks also to Max Roser, Edouard Mathieu and Bastian Herre for editorial feedback on this article.</p>\n", "protected": false }, "excerpt": { "rendered": "Putting a price on carbon helps us account for the real costs of fossil fuels in the market. Which countries have a carbon tax or trading system?", "protected": false }, "date_gmt": "2022-10-14T10:00:00", "modified": "2022-10-14T12:06:38", "template": "", "categories": [ 1 ], "ping_status": "closed", "authors_name": [ "Hannah Ritchie", "Pablo Rosado" ], "modified_gmt": "2022-10-14T11:06:38", "comment_status": "closed", "featured_media": 53529, "featured_media_paths": { "thumbnail": "/app/uploads/2022/10/Carbon-taxes-featured-image-150x79.png", "medium_large": "/app/uploads/2022/10/Carbon-taxes-featured-image-768x402.png" } } |