Should governments stimulate tipping points?
Rich countries could raise five times the money that developing nations are asking for via windfall taxes on fossil fuel companies, scrapping polluting subsidies and a wealth tax on billionaires, research shows. Poorer countries want at least $1tn (£750bn) a year in public money to help them deal with the effects of extreme weather and reduce their reliance on non-renewables.
Stopping fossil fuel subsidies would free up about $846Bn globally, the report says.
Rich countries could raise five times the money that developing nations are asking for via windfall taxes on fossil fuel companies, scrapping polluting subsidies and a wealth tax on billionaires, research shows. Poorer countries want at least $1tn (£750bn) a year in public money to help them deal with the effects of extreme weather and reduce their reliance on non-renewables.
Prof Tim Lenton from the Global Systems Institute (GSI) at the University of Exeter, which is behind the research, said: “With the world off course to meet the Paris agreement climate goals, triggering positive tipping points is now the only credible way to limit global warming well below 2C (3.7F) above preindustrial levels.
“We need a rapid transformation in our economies and society that dramatically cuts prices and carbon emissions. Focusing on positive tipping points benefits consumers, taxpayers, businesses and people around the world facing the worst impacts of climate change.”
What the latest research shows is that, of all the possible government interventions, mandates are the most effective way to push industries towards such tipping points. Using data from more than 70 countries, including all the big carbon emitters, GSI’s researchers used modelling to predict the impact of different kinds of government interventions – taxation, subsidies and regulatory mandates – in encouraging decarbonisation in energy generation, heating, and light and heavy road transport.
The modelling simulated how investors or consumers choose between technologies based on availability, cost and historical preferences. The study found taxation – hitherto the most commonly used policy – to be the weakest intervention, while regulatory mandates had the biggest impact, quickly leading adoption of clean technologies to levels that triggered positive tipping points in related industries.
From the Guardian, Damien Gayle, September 23, 2024
Feature Image Credited to: Camila Fernandez from Unsplash