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carbon tax

Written byPeter Bondarenko
Peter Bondarenko
Former Assistant Editor, Economics, Encyclopædia Britannica.
Fact-checked byThe Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
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Table of Contents
CO2 emissions
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The burning of fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. A carbon tax aims to reduce such emissions by shifting part of the cost of polluting the air to businesses.
© Mark Rasmussen/Fotolia
Key People:
William Nordhaus
Recent News
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carbon tax, tax levied on firms that produce carbon dioxide (CO2) through their operations. It is used as an incentive to reduce the economy-wide usage of high-carbon fuels and to protect the environment from the harmful effects of excessive carbon dioxide emissions.

A carbon tax is levied on CO2 emissions. All fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, and natural gas contain carbon, which is released as carbon dioxide when these fuels are burned. The released carbon dioxide acts as a greenhouse gas: it prevents the infrared radiation generated by sunlight that has heated Earth from escaping to space efficiently, which creates a heat-trapping effect. Over time, the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere contributes to climate change and causes nonreversible harm to the environment.

A carbon tax works on the basis of the economic principle of externalities. When a firm generates pollution through carbon dioxide emissions, it is said to produce a negative externality—a cost to the society through the harm that it causes to the environment. A carbon tax is a way to internalize that cost. In other words, it is a market-based solution that is grounded on the principle that emissions will be reduced when businesses are obliged to pay at least part of the cost of the externality they have created. Furthermore, such a tax has the potential to encourage firms to invest in environmentally friendly renewable energy and reduce the economy-wide reliance on fossil fuels.

A carbon tax is easy to implement because it is based on CO2 emissions, which is straightforward to measure, and it offers a potentially cost-effective way of reducing carbon-dioxide emissions and fossil-fuel usage. In the early 21st century, a number of countries, such as Canada, Ireland, and Sweden, began using a carbon-tax system in which firms are obligated to pay a tax based on the carbon content of the fuels they use in their production. Countries in the European Union, on the other hand, chose to partly rely on a market exchange system called the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), where firms were allowed to buy and sell emission rights between each other. Many Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and eastern European countries indirectly taxed carbon dioxide emissions through taxes on energy products and motor vehicles.

Peter Bondarenko