News
Consider a single carbon tax to make net zero work, economists say
Moving the economy to net zero – emitting less carbon dioxide than it consumes – will be messy and expensive unless the government has a radical rethink about how to simplify its approach to taxing greenhouse gas production.
Taxing new plastic is the cheapest way to address its environmental impact
The market is able to ignore the greater environmental burden of virgin plastics. Economists have known that the most efficient way to address this is to level the playing field by making users of virgin plastics pay for the added costs the virgin plastic adds to the globe.
‘Please put a price on carbon’, says Europe’s biggest utility
Countries need to put a price on carbon to help the world cut greenhouse gas emissions and limit climate warming to agreed targets, the head of Europe’s biggest utility said on Tuesday.
Fossil fuel industry gets subsidies of $11m a minute, IMF finds
The fossil fuel industry benefits from subsidies of $11m every minute, according to analysis by the International Monetary Fund. The IMF found the production and burning of coal, oil and gas was subsidised by $5.9tn in 2020, with not a single country pricing all its fuels sufficiently to reflect their full supply and environmental costs.
Britain’s confused approach to carbon pricing
A reluctance to raise the cost of natural gas is understandable, given that poorer households spend more of their income on heating their homes. But it only further underscores the importance of joined-up, coherent thinking about how Britain can hit its net zero emissions target by 2050.
Green recovery: Spur small business climate action for stable economies, says international small business leader
In a world that is dominated increasingly by the effects of climate change, small businesses need more support than ever to keep economies running and citizens happy and healthy. Small businesses, governments and industry leaders alike can work together to build a resilient ecosystem by raising awareness, emphasizing proactivity over reactivity and cultivating accountability.
It cannot be any recovery: it must be sustainable and it must be digital
How European insurance industry partnerships can support the EU’s drive toward a climate-neutral continent and economic recovery.
Austria announces carbon tax, offset by reduction in other taxes
Austria announced the introduction of a new “eco-social” reform of the tax system. Everyone in the governing coalition gets something: but does the environment?
Australian states and territories revolt over federal government’s coal power subsidy plan
The federal government is facing a revolt from states and territories over its plan to allow subsidies for coal and gas-fired power stations as part of reforms to shore up reliability of the electricity grid.
