We have seen it quite a few times in the previous months : taxing carbon is a good idea as it already works in Australia, Ireland and British Columbia. Emissions reductions have been quite noticeable in all cases.
As a result, more countries will follow suit, such as the People’s Republic of China, South Africa and even France. The government of my home country indeed has stated that it will start taxing carbon in January 2014.
As a result, taxing carbon is one of the solutions at the disposal of the nations willing to slash their greenhouse gases emissions among cutting fossil fuels subsidies.
As the TV channel ABC reported from Australia : ” This week the IMF, the World Bank and the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) all stressed the need for carbon pricing to address climate change. “
Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, has had previously quite strong words on the imperative of tackling carbon dioxide emissions and climate change, calling the latter “the greatest economic challenge of the 21st century.” (source)
I would be highly surprised if a global carbon tax – even a light one – weren’t enacted in some point in the future. When exactly is the key question. Let’s hope it will be soon enough to prevent the worse from occurring.