From The Gov Monitor (When They Meet At The Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen):
“The single most important action to reduce carbon dioxide emissions is for all nations of the world to agree to binding emission limits when they meet at the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.” So says Professor of Finance Don Fullerton ["an expert on taxation and environmental economics"] from the University of Illinois, who is one of the speakers at this week’s meeting of finance ministers in Göteborg.
More quotes of the day:
“I consider that the sectors not under the EU Emissions Trading System could also be made to face a tax on carbon dioxide emissions. This policy is cost effective because it is expected to provide incentives for businesses to cut emissions by any of the cheapest ways possible”, says Don Fullerton.
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“It is not realistic to believe that we can cut carbon dioxide emissions without any costs at all”, says Don Fullerton. “But the world still gains by cutting emissions now, because the cost of doing so is less than the cost of global warming if we don’t act. The longer we wait, the greater the consequences in the form of sea level rise, loss of biodiversity etc. The cost of stopping global warming later on will be higher.”
In Don Fullerton’s view, all countries of the world must act together to reduce emissions and reach an agreement in Copenhagen. “A small set of nations cannot do it alone, because one set of emission cuts could be more than offset by increases in carbon dioxide emissions elsewhere. When the governments have reached an agreement in Copenhagen and each nation has to cut emissions, then the most important policy for each nation is to put a price on emissions, either by an emissions trading system or a tax on greenhouse gas emissions”, concludes Don Fullerton.
