Carbon pricing and COVID-19,Climate Policy

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Carbon pricing and COVID-19
Climate Policy ( IF 5.3 ) Pub Date : 2020-11-15 , DOI: 10.1080/14693062.2020.1831432
Kian Mintz-Woo _{1,

2} , Francis Dennig ₃ , Hongxun Liu ₂ , Thomas Schinko ₄

Affiliation

ABSTRACT

A question arising from the COVID-19 crisis is whether the merits of cases for climate policies have been affected. This article focuses on carbon pricing, in the form of either carbon taxes or emissions trading. It discusses the extent to which relative costs and benefits of introducing carbon pricing may have changed in the context of COVID-19, during both the crisis and the recovery period to follow. In several ways, the case for introducing a carbon price is stronger during the COVID-19 crisis than under normal conditions. Oil costs are lower than normal, so we would expect less harm to consumers compared to normal conditions. Governments have immediate need for diversified new revenue streams in light of both decreased tax receipts and greater use of social safety nets. Finally, supply and demand shocks have led to already destabilized supply-side activities, and carbon pricing would allow this destabilization to equilibrate around greener production for the long-term. The strengthening of the case for introducing carbon pricing now is highly relevant to discussions about recovery measures, especially in the context of policy announcements from the European Union and United States House of Representatives.

Key policy insights

Persistently low oil prices mean that consumers will face lower pain from carbon pricing than under normal conditions.
Many consumers are more price-sensitive during the COVID-19 context, which suggests that a greater relative burden from carbon prices would fall upon producers as opposed to consumers than under normal conditions.
Carbon prices in the COVID-19 context can introduce new revenue streams, assisting with fiscal holes or with other green priorities.
Carbon pricing would contribute to a more sustainable COVID-19 recovery period, since many of the costs of revamping supply chains are already being felt while idled labour capacity can be incorporated into firms with lower carbon-intensity.

中文翻译：

碳定价和 COVID-19

摘要

COVID-19 危机引发的一个问题是，气候政策案例的案情是否受到了影响。本文以碳税或排放交易的形式关注碳定价。它讨论了在 COVID-19 的背景下，在危机和随后的恢复期内，引入碳定价的相对成本和收益可能发生的变化程度。在某些方面，在 COVID-19 危机期间引入碳价格的理由比正常情况下更有说服力。石油成本低于正常水平，因此与正常情况相比，我们预计对消费者的伤害较小。鉴于税收减少和社会安全网的更多使用，政府迫切需要多样化的新收入来源。最后，供需冲击已经导致供应方活动的不稳定，而碳定价将使这种不稳定在长期围绕更绿色的生产平衡。现在加强引入碳定价的理由与关于恢复措施的讨论高度相关，特别是在欧盟和美国众议院政策公告的背景下。