Climate change is a term that seems to pop up everywhere you look. From your social media feed, movies, and TV shows to what’s discussed in schools and businesses, it has become a top of mind in almost every facet of our society and is the defining global issue of our time according to the UN.
More specifically, human-induced climate change, also known as global warming, is of primary global concern due to the excessive emission of greenhouse gases from human activity. The main human activity is the burning of fossil fuels such as oil, coal, and gas, which has resulted in large-scale shifts in weather patterns, particularly the increase in severe weather conditions such as floods, forest wildfires, and hurricanes across the globe.
The biggest culprit of global warming is the richest and most developed countries, also known as the G20 countries. According to the UN, the G20 account for 85% of global GDP and are responsible for close to 80% of global emissions. This means that the battle to mitigate the most devastating impacts of global warming and avoid the worst-case scenario depends on the actions of the G20 nations collectively.
What then should the G20 do to tackle global warming? What is the most impactful and feasible course of action the G20 can collectively take considering the conflicting concerns of each member? It is for the G20 nations to collectively agree on a global minimum carbon tax that annually escalates.
Under a global minimum carbon tax, governments around the world set at minimum a universally agreed price that producers must pay for each ton of greenhouse gas emitted from the production of their products and services. It is straightforward, binding, consistent, executable at scale, much less manipulatable compared to other options, and solves competitiveness concerns. It assures the world’s superpowers, who are also the world’s top emitters, that they will all be operating on a level playing field. Competing nations will have to operate under the same policy and the other will not gain an advantage economically or politically from a relaxed response to climate change. Therefore, making it easier to build bipartisanship and have it implemented policy-wise on the national level.
If a global minimum carbon tax is adopted, it will drive incentives towards green alternatives in every industry across the world and away from fossil fuel options, spurring eco-innovation and clean technology development at a scale and pace unforeseen.
For a global minimum carbon tax to be implemented correctly, rules will need to be enforced and G20 members will need to be held accountable to one another with strict penalties on any breach by a member and monitoring of implementation at the national level. The UN would ideally be the best entity to fulfill these responsibilities.
If every G20 nation correctly adopts a global minimum carbon tax, then we just may sidestep the bleak future that awaits us and witness a new dawn.
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