Welfens, P.J.J.: CO2-Steuer, Zertifikate-Handel und Innovationsförderung als Klimapolitik-Instrumente

Welfens, P.J.J.: CO2-Steuer, Zertifikate-Handel und Innovationsförderung als Klimapolitik-Instrumente

JEL classification: H2, F13, Q54, Q58, O19, O3

Key words: CO2-Steuer, CO2- Zertifikatenhandel, Innovationsförderung, Klimapolitik, EU, G20

Summary

The introduction of a CO2 tax for those sectors which are not involved in the trade of CO2 certificates would be an ecologically and economically sound development for Germany and other OECD countries. The tax should be broadly revenue neutral, but a small share of the revenue could temporarily be used to increase the support and promotion of emission abatement innovations – innovations which, in turn, would help to reduce the economic burden of certificate trading and the CO2 tax. The trade in CO2 certificates is fundamentally economically efficient as long as a globally uniform price for certificates is reached in the long term – from the perspective of EU economies reaching a state of CO2 neutrality by 2050, reaching this parity in terms of the price of CO2 is a challenge which should be tackled in the medium term, where the CO2 tax to be paid should be similar to the certificate price. Here there is a critical task ahead for the German presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2020. Tax aspects of supporting innovation, particularly environmentally-friendly innovation dynamics, should be considered.

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