COLIN MCCLELLAND Canada will fall far short of climate change goals: IMF report
Even if Canadian federal and provincial governments increase their carbon taxes to US$75 a tonne they will fall far short of reaching greenhouse gas emission targets, says a new report by the International Monetary Fund.
Countries that rely more on coal than Canada will see a greater impact from carbon taxes on their emission levels because the monetary bite will be deeper, the IMF says. Some would see a Us$75-atonne carbon tax balloon coal prices by 200 per cent by 2030, says the report, released Thursday.
“Whereas a US$25 a ton price would be more than enough for some countries (for example, China, India, and Russia) to meet their Paris Agreement pledges, in other cases (for example, Australia and Canada) even the US$75 a ton carbon tax falls short,” the Washington, D.c.-based lender said. “Emissions are more responsive to pricing in coal-reliant countries such as China, India, and South Africa than in other countries.”
The policies of taxing carbon emissions or imposing limits in a cap-and-trade system are seen by environmentalists as a first step in combating the emissions due to increase in the planet’s temperature by at least 2 C in the decades ahead with dire consequences.
In Canada, support for the measure also pits the Liberals against the Conservatives, who instead suggest scrapping the carbon tax and work on green technology.
Canada’s goal under the 2015 Paris climate-change accord is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 30 per cent less than they were in 2005 by 2030.
Countries need to rapidly cut greenhouse gas emissions in order to stave off projections that world temperatures will rise by 4 C by 2100 and carbon taxes or capand-trade systems are the best way to do it, the IMF’S Fiscal Monitor report said.
In the IMF’S analysis of the impact of a Us$50-a-tonne carbon tax in Canada, the U.S., China and India, the report found that Canada suffered the least burden on households and industry.