Striving for equivalency across the Alberta,British Columbia,Ontario and Québec carbon pricing systems: the Pan-Canadian carbon pricing benchmark

The Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change is designed to put Canada on track to meet its Paris commitments. A key pillar of the plan is the introduction of a pan-Canadian carbon price by the end of 2018. However, four Canadian provinces, nearly 85% of the Canadian economy and population, have already implemented carbon pricing systems. British Columbia (BC) has a carbon tax. Alberta is transitioning from an output-based allocation system for industrial emitters to a hybrid system combining a carbon levy and refined output-based system. Québec and Ontario have implemented cap-and-trade systems, linked to California. Recognizing these existing systems, rather than impose a single carbon pricing mechanism, the Pan-Canadian Approach to Carbon Pricing gives provinces and territories the flexibility to adopt a carbon tax, a hybrid system, or a cap-and-trade system. To address concerns relating to ‘fairness’ and equivalency of carbon price, a federal carbon pricing benchmark establishes criteria relating to minimum ‘common scope’ and ‘increases in stringency’ that provincial and territorial carbon pricing systems must meet. This article explores the design features of the existing Alberta, BC, Ontario and Québec carbon pricing systems, and considers how the benchmark affects stringency and addresses equivalency of carbon price across these different systems.

Key policy insights

• Canada is taking advantage of its federal structure of government to introduce a minimum pan-Canadian carbon price of $10/tCO₂e in 2018, rising by $10/year to $50/tCO₂e in 2022.

• Rather than imposing a uniform pricing mechanism, the Canadian federal government is recognizing existing subnational carbon pricing mechanisms with very different design features – BC’s carbon tax, Québec and Ontario’s cap-and-trade systems, and Alberta’s hybrid system – to deliver the pan-Canadian carbon price.

• In order to deliver a minimum level of increasing stringency and to address issues of equivalency of carbon price across sub-national jurisdictions, the federal government is in the early stages of implementing a federal carbon-pricing benchmark.

• The lessons learned from the Canadian experience will be relevant to harmonizing carbon pricing systems across both other federal jurisdictions and countries.

     

面向智慧地税的税源稽查系统设计与实现

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国际矿业税制最新改革焦点及其启示

矿业税费制度多年来一直是我国改革的难点和热点。该文分析了最近几年来世界主要矿业国家和地区矿业税制改革的最新动态和发展趋势,总结了国际矿业税制最新改革对我国的启示,提出了构建我国有效矿业税制应该建立矿业税费评价制度,确立评价指标和方法,建立良好的矿业税基本制度。     

ECONOMIC APPROACH FOR CONTROL AGRICULTURAL NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION IN CHINA

1 IN T R O D U C T IO NM ostofthepastw aterm anagem enthasfocused on pointsource pollution,w ith less attention to nonpointsourcepollution.A fterpointsourcesofpollution have been al-ready heavily controlled, nonpoint source pollution(N PSP) has becom e th…     

浅谈自动气象站记录数据的维护、审核和异常情况处理

通过对气象数据采集和日常记录数据的分析,找出自动气象站出现异常数据、缺测数据的原因,提出应对异常数据的审核和处理方法.     

From modelling theory to policy: lessons from the LCS project

The Low-Carbon Society (LCS) research project (Strachan et al., 2008) is to be congratulated for providing a rich, useful source of models to inform and precipitate discussion of policy options for moving towards a low-carbon society. This commentary explores additional considerations that warrant inclusion in any policy discussion: the feasibility of political will and leadership, the limitations of technical feasibility, and clarity about what ‘the price of carbon’ means. Difficulties exist with establishing carbon prices due to differences in energy prices between countries and the distinction between baseline (existing policies) and additional parts. An alternative may be to place more emphasis on the energy price for mitigation, along with other indicators (energy efficiency, carbon intensity, renewable power diffusion) for comparison. A policy is proposed, based on the energy price combined with an emphasis on accelerating technological innovation and overcoming barriers to the adoption of energy efficiency measures.     

A case for introducing an explicit carbon price into China's export tax

In recent years, export value-added tax (VAT) refund rebate and export tax (EVRRET) measures have been adopted for energy-intensive products in China. They are proclaimed to be climate policy, yet there is no explicit and unique carbon cost set on export, and the implicit export carbon tax rates vary dramatically across sectors and over different periods. A method is provided to introduce an explicit and unique carbon cost into the current EVRRET. By setting a comparable carbon cost (US$20/tCO₂ and US$30/tCO₂) for eight major energy-intensive sectors to which the EVRRET is widely applied, it derives the corresponding ad valorem average rate for each sector. The introduction of a carbon cost into export VAT refund rebate policy would not increase the current export VAT refund rebate rate (except for the chemical sector), but would simply define a ceiling. However, the same introduction into the export tax policy would lead to an overall increase in sectoral export tax rates. In terms of competitiveness and World Trade Organisation concerns, the better option for introducing a carbon cost into Chinese exports would be through reforming export VAT refund rebate policy.     

Combining price and quantity instruments: insights from South Africa

A carbon tax will form the central carbon pricing instrument in South Africa. The country, however, is also in the process of setting specific short-term emissions limits at a subnational level. Additional mitigation policy instruments will thus be required to meet these targets. Although it is possible to combine sector-level quantity targets with a broad-based carbon tax, this article finds that this greatly complicates mitigation policy design, increasing both the information requirements and the likelihood of unintended consequences. The trade-offs between economic efficiency (optimized by the use of a broad-based price set by a carbon tax) and environmental effectiveness (optimized by using instruments that ensure emissions reduction targets are met) are ever present. A clear understanding of subnational quantity targets and an appreciation of the characteristics of the instruments to achieve such targets (quantity-based instruments, QBIs), the framework through which the instruments are combined, and their possible interactions, are required for effective policy making. Three possible frameworks for combining instruments are identified in the article, and some specific implications of interaction between particular QBIs and a carbon tax are suggested.

Policy relevance

This article explores the interaction of a carbon tax with mitigation policy instruments to meet subnational emissions targets in the South African context (where both a carbon tax and subnational emissions targets are currently being developed). As international negotiations progress towards countries accepting binding GHG emissions restrictions, quantity-based mitigation policy approaches become more important. In countries where a broad-based emissions trading scheme (ETS) is not feasible in the short to medium term, combining a broad-based carbon tax with subnational emission targets provides an alternative mechanism for achieving the economic efficiency and emissions certainty benefits derived from an ETS. This paper considers the mechanisms through which such a combination of instruments can be achieved. Three possible frameworks for combining instruments are identified, some specific implications of interaction between particular QBIs and a carbon tax are suggested, and guidelines and concept tools are presented to assist policy-makers in designing efficient and coherent mitigation policy.     

Carbon taxes: a review of experience and policy design considerations

State and local governments in the USA are evaluating a wide range of policies to reduce carbon emissions, including carbon taxes, which have existed internationally for nearly 20 years. In this article, existing carbon tax policies, both internationally and in the USA, are reviewed, and carbon policy design and effectiveness are analysed. Design considerations include which sectors to tax, where to set the tax rate, how to use tax revenues, what the impact will be on consumers, and how to ensure that emissions reduction goals are achieved. Emissions reductions that are due to carbon taxes can be difficult to measure, although some jurisdictions quantify reductions in overall emissions, others examine impacts that are due to programmes funded by carbon tax revenues.     

基于CGE模型的碳税政策模拟——以广东省为例

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