While the richest country on Earth contemplates pulling out of the Paris climate agreement to limit global emissions, Bangladesh, one of the poorest countries, is planning to adopt even stricter measures to reduce emissions: According to sources in the nation’s finance ministry, Bangladesh will introduce a carbon tax on fuel, in a budget that will be announced later this year.
Economists—right, left, and center—argue that if done right, a tax on carbon can be one of the most effective routes to reducing emissions without dampening the economy. The idea of a carbon tax is to impose a cost on the amount of greenhouse emitted by the industry for making its products or, in this case, the fuel used. Like other taxes, the money collected can be put towards, say, environmental initiatives. Even the world’s largest fossil-fuel companies support it.
But for poor countries, a carbon tax is not a politically easy step to take. Adding taxes to fuel means that essential items such as food and clothing become more expensive for citizens. Carbon taxes can also backfire by making exports more expensive, and less competitive on the global market.
While the richest country on Earth contemplates pulling out of the Paris climate agreement to limit global emissions, Bangladesh, one of the poorest countries, is planning to adopt even stricter measures to reduce emissions: According to sources in the nation’s finance ministry, Bangladesh will introduce a carbon tax on fuel, in a budget that will be announced later this year.
Economists—right, left, and center—argue that if done right, a tax on carbon can be one of the most effective routes to reducing emissions without dampening the economy. The idea of a carbon tax is to impose a cost on the amount of greenhouse emitted by the industry for making its products or, in this case, the fuel used. Like other taxes, the money collected can be put towards, say, environmental initiatives. Even the world’s largest fossil-fuel companies support it.
But for poor countries, a carbon tax is not a politically easy step to take. Adding taxes to fuel means that essential items such as food and clothing become more expensive for citizens. Carbon taxes can also backfire by making exports more expensive, and less competitive on the global market.
Source: The Daily Ittefaq
