A POST-COVID-19 ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT OF THE CHILEAN NDC REVISION

Last year, Chile updated its Nationally Determined Contributions, moving from intensity-based emissions reductions to an effective emissions target. This paper aims to assess the economic and environmental impacts of this change in the current context of high uncertainty Chile faces with social protests and the COVID-19 pandemic. Using the computable general equilibrium model GEMINI-E3, we performed a sensitivity analysis assuming different levels of economic growth through 2030. Though at first glance the revised commitments appear more ambitious, we found that they could lead to higher emissions in low-growth scenarios. The results show that intensity-based emissions targets indeed become less stringent when assuming high levels of economic growth and thus may result in highly uncertain effective emissions in 2030. On the other hand, given the uncertainty surrounding Chilean economic growth, the updated commitments would be politically more amenable as it would lead to lower welfare losses. In addition, we analyze different redistribution schemes of a CO2 tax and we show that a per capita redistribution rule makes the CO2 tax more progressive and thus fiscally more acceptable.

Toward a green income support policy: Investigating social and fiscal alternatives for Turkey

The limited success of employment-based social protection measures under the diverging patterns of post-COVID-19 recovery rekindled interest in a social policy framework known as the Basic Income (BI) support. We test the potential of the BI program using five alternative scenarios ranging from households with income less than half of median income to all adults with estimates of their respective fiscal costs. We then employ an applied general equilibrium model to analyze the economy-wide effects and welfare implications for Turkey in the long run through 2030. We evaluate the macroeconomic and welfare effects of both a business-as-usual fiscal program and an alternative (green BI scenario) comprising of (i) carbon tax levied on the fossil fuel producing industry;(ii) corporate income taxation policy reform that aims at expanding the revenue base and consolidation of the fiscal space of the government;and (iii) restructuring of public consumption expenditures by introducing rationality and efficiency in the structure of fiscal expenditures. Our model solutions reveal that a green BI scenario not only achieves a higher GDP and welfare in the medium to long run but also helps Turkey to reduce its carbon emissions in line with the global policy challenges of a green recovery. © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press.

Node Research on the Involvement of China's Carbon Tax Policy in the Context of COVID-19

The outbreak of COVID-19 provides a rare opportunity for the implementation of the carbon tax. To determine which stage is the most appropriate for introducing the policy, a simulation model based on China's panel data is established to analyze the impact of the carbon tax on government revenue and residents' income from five scenarios. A new GM-SD modeling method is proposed to ensure the accuracy of the model. The results show that the impact of the carbon tax on the government and the public is significantly different at different stages, and even the implementation of the carbon tax in the early stage of COVID-19 will reduce the government's tax revenue. The score analysis of government tax revenue, residents' surplus disposable income, residents' emotional value, and government administrative power finds that the middle period of COVID-19 is the best time to implement the policy. In addition, a more detailed analysis of five aspects, including total population, energy consumption, and national income, shows that the best time to implement the carbon tax policy is when the damage degree of COVID-19 is moderate. The analysis results can provide a reference and basis for China to introduce the carbon tax in the event of similar events as COVID-19, and have reference significance for other countries that have not implemented a carbon tax. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Carbon Tax: Moving Towards a Net-Zero Emissions Future

In the wake of the 21st century, climate change has emerged as the biggest lifethreatening challenge with a potential of evolving into the largest, if not the most complex, economic opportunity since the industrial revolution. While narrowing down its focus to carbon tax as a regulatory fiscal aspect of international economic law, this article explores the potential role of the tax in moulding this economic opportunity in line with the commitments assumed by countries under the 2015 Paris Agreement. The issue is whether imposition of carbon tax or restructuring tax rates can have a significant impact in regulating carbon emissions by rationally pushing consumers, investors, and producers, towards an environmentally sound direction. To answer this, the article investigates three carbon-tax implementation case studies;British Columbia, South Africa, and the revision of European Union Energy Taxation Directive in the context of aviation, with the aim to explore the scope of contributing factors – from adequate tax rate determination to optimum tax revenue use – in successfully curbing carbon-based emissions. Drawing upon the policy-efforts of the countries in the case studies, the challenges and the solutions, the article proposes a suggestive policy model of carbon-tax in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, as the way forward in ensuring global carbon-neutrality.Alternate :In the wake of the 21st century, climate change has emerged as the biggest lifethreatening challenge with a potential of evolving into the largest, if not the most complex, economic opportunity since the industrial revolution. While narrowing down its focus to carbon tax as a regulatory fiscal aspect of international economic law, this article explores the potential role of the tax in moulding this economic opportunity in line with the commitments assumed by countries under the 2015 Paris Agreement. The issue is whether imposition of carbon tax or restructuring tax rates can have a significant impact in regulating carbon emissions by rationally pushing consumers, investors, and producers, towards an environmentally sound direction. To answer this, the article investigates three carbon-tax implementation case studies;British Columbia, South Africa, and the revision of European Union Energy Taxation Directive in the context of aviation, with the aim to explore the scope of contributing factors – from adequate tax rate determination to optimum tax revenue use – in successfully curbing carbon-based emissions. Drawing upon the policy-efforts of the countries in the case studies, the challenges and the solutions, the article proposes a suggestive policy model of carbon-tax in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, as the way forward in ensuring global carbon-neutrality.

Carbon Tax and Tourism Employment: Is There An Interplay?

The impact of the climate change response on the labour market is an important question for policymakers, while the net positive effect of green policies on the labour market is seen as one of the arguments in favour of a green transition. This is particularly important for the tourism labour market, which was severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examined the effect of carbon taxes on tourism employment for European countries that have levied a carbon tax over the past thirty years. A macroeconomic panel data regression model ex-post study was applied by contrasting the obtained results via a robustness check. The estimation results indicate a slightly positive and significant association between the carbon tax and tourism employment, which was additionally tested by considering revenue recycling, early adopters of the carbon tax, and a higher carbon tax compared to countries with a lower carbon tax. We cannot conclude that these factors matter for tourism employment, proving the robustness of the results. Revenue-neutral carbon taxation, policies to address the skills gap, push and pull incentives, and active labour market policies to facilitate the quick re-integration of jobseekers into employment are viewed as pivotal to ensure a smoother transition toward a sustainable tourism labour market. © 2023 by the author.

Optimal low-carbon governance model of livestreaming supply chain based on multiple scenarios

Supply chain emissions reduction is an important way to promote the development of a low-carbon economy and address climate challenges. Although the scale of livestream shopping has demonstrated unprecedented growth globally, especially since the COVID-19 outbreak, livestreaming supply chains have also contributed significantly to carbon emissions. Currently, optimisation models for the low-carbon governance of livestreaming supply chains are relatively lacking. To address the issue of carbon emission reduction in livestreaming supply chains, this study paper proposes three low-carbon governance decision-making models based on environmental and operating costs to compare which governance model is optimal. The most suitable decision result for the policymaker and supply chain is both cost-effective and environmentally successful under the model considering carbon tax and carbon trade. The results show that 1) governance based only on carbon tax and collaborative operation will decrease the total cost of the livestreaming supply chain but increase the environmental cost. 2) Governance based only on carbon trading and collaborative operation will increase the total cost of the livestreaming supply chain, while the environmental cost will not change. 3) Under governance that combines carbon tax and carbon trading, collaborative operations can effectively reduce both the total cost and the environmental cost of livestreaming supply chains. Theoretically, our study enriches the research on the low-carbon governance of livestreaming supply chains. Moreover, the research results provide useful insights into the formulation of a low-carbon policy for livestreaming supply chains.

Synergistic Effects of International Oil Price Fluctuations and Carbon Tax Policies on the Energy-Economy-Environment System in China.

Catalyzed by COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, oil prices fluctuate dramatically on the worldwide market. Both international oil price changes and carbon tax policies have a direct impact on energy costs, thus influencing energy security and emission reduction impacts. Therefore, assessing the interaction effects of international oil price variations and carbon tax policies can assist in resolving the competing challenges of energy security and carbon emission reduction. The impact of international oil price fluctuations on China's energy-economic-environment system under the baseline scenario and carbon taxation scenario is analyzed by constructing a computable general equilibrium model comprising six modules: production, trade, institutions, price, environment, and equilibrium. The findings indicate that, in addition to reducing high-carbon energy consumption and increasing demand for clean electricity, rising international oil prices have a negative effect on real GDP, resulting in lower output in sectors other than construction, and a positive effect on the environmental system by driving carbon emission reductions. In contrast, decreasing international oil prices have the opposite effect. Nevertheless, the impact of rising and decreasing international oil prices is asymmetrical, with the positive shock effect being smaller than the negative. The carbon tax policy can effectively offset the increase in carbon emissions caused by the decline in international oil prices, which is conducive to promoting the development of clean energy, while simultaneously causing an increase in product prices and arousing a contraction in consumer demand, which has a limited negative impact on the macroeconomy.

The International Decarbonization Regime as a Tool for Implementing Risk Society Values

"The coronavirus pandemic has actualised the ""Global Risk Society"" concept. The purpose of this article is to examine the emergence of an international decarbonisation regime in terms of the values of the ""global risk society"" as updated by the coronavirus pandemic. Under the conditions of ""new normality"", new values that determine the sociopolitical development of society are taking shape. Relying on the ""Global Risk Society"" theory, the authors derive its emerging values, the emergence of which is associated with the pandemic and its socio-economic effects. Thus, new values include the abandonment of faith in progress and a focus on crisis management (resilience), global solidarity as a key condition for survival, the search for a balance between freedom and security, effective response and regulation, ""open innovation"" as part of the ""global commons"", rethinking of the value of consumption, and finally, the value of the climate agenda as a global green imperative comes to the fore. These values are of importance for a global climate agenda as well, which has become more acute during the pandemic. A key actor here is the European Union, which, through its policy of normative power and environmental ethics, is shaping a new international decarbonisation regime as an instrument for realising these values. And this ""new ethic"" has no national boundaries. Such international regime aims to create a regulatory framework for responding to climate risks that has the potential to profoundly affect global development and lead to a fundamentally new international climate order."

Impacts of Shipping Carbon Tax on Dry Bulk Shipping Costs and Maritime Trades—The Case of China

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in shipping have been receiving growing concerns in the maritime industry. Recently, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) is considering the introduction of a global shipping carbon tax, which has become the most talked-about topic in both industry and academia. To assess the potential impact of the carbon tax on maritime trades, a trade-volume-based model of shipping carbon emissions was developed. Considering that bulk shipping is the second-largest carbon emitter in the maritime industry and the low value-to-weight nature of bulk cargoes, the model was applied to analyze the dry bulk trade in China, one of the leading countries in the global dry bulk trade. The results show that the introduction of the carbon tax could have significant impacts on freight rates and commodity prices. Depending on the trading regions and the carbon charges, shipping freight rates would increase by 10–30%, which is equivalent to 1–4% of the trading prices. Additionally, since shorter shipping distances may have less emission per trading tonnage, the shipping carbon tax may significantly change the dry bulk trade patterns, resulting in China’s increasing reliance on nearby countries, e.g., India and Australia, for the import of key commodities. These findings can help shipping companies and sectors make better carbon reduction responses, such as redeploying their fleets, promoting the development of low-carbon shipping technologies, and increasing investments in Australia, as well as South and Southeast Asia.

A Post-Covid-19 Economic Assessment of the Chilean Ndc Revision

Last year, Chile updated its Nationally Determined Contributions, moving from intensity-based emissions reductions to an effective emissions target. This paper aims to assess the economic and environmental impacts of this change in the current context of high uncertainty Chile faces with social protests and the COVID-19 pandemic. Using the computable general equilibrium model GEMINI-E3, we performed a sensitivity analysis assuming different levels of economic growth through 2030. Though at first glance the revised commitments appear more ambitious, we found that they could lead to higher emissions in low-growth scenarios. The results show that intensity-based emissions targets indeed become less stringent when assuming high levels of economic growth and thus may result in highly uncertain effective emissions in 2030. On the other hand, given the uncertainty surrounding Chilean economic growth, the updated commitments would be politically more amenable as it would lead to lower welfare losses. In addition, we analyze different redistribution schemes of a CO2 tax and we show that a per capita redistribution rule makes the CO2 tax more progressive and thus fiscally more acceptable.

Environmental Policy in Good and Bad Times: The Countercyclical Effects of Carbon Taxes and Cap-and-Trade

'Green recovery' is one of the key themes of the stimulus packages implemented around the world in response to the Covid-19-related economic downturn. Recent research points to the potential role of regulation that becomes less stringent during recessions (ie countercyclical regulation) as an instrument to stimulate a quicker recovery. When this argument is put in the context of a green recovery, two key questions arise: should we implement countercyclical environmental regulation? If yes, what environmental instruments are better suited to stimulate the economy in periods of economic downturn? This article addresses these questions by discussing the risks of countercyclical environmental regulation and comparing the countercyclical effects of two critical environmental instruments: carbon taxes and cap-and-trade. The article argues that policymakers should be cautious in implementing countercyclical environmental regulation because the benefits of this practice are uncertain and it entails various risks. The article also challenges the belief common among academics and policymakers that cap-and-trade is inherently more countercyclical than carbon taxes by showing that whether this is true depends on the design of these instruments and other contingent factors.

Environmental Benefits From Carbon Tax in the Chinese Carbon Market: A Roadmap to Energy Efficiency in the Post-COVID-19 Era

Because of China’s global responsibilities to address climate change, the country has made a commitment to limiting the growth of future emissions using policy measures, such as funding mitigation research and regulating energy efficiency requirements directly. Extensions of these policies, such as the measures to improve energy efficiency, use of carbon taxes, and changes to the mix of electricity generation in the country, are also of interest to China. This article applied a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to examine the effects of such energy efficiency and climate change policy options in the post-COVID-19 era in the China economy. The study findings show that even modest measures can have significant effects on emissions with marginal economic impacts, given the current level of development in the China electricity generation and transportation sectors. It is estimated that a 5 RMB per ton carbon tax will reduce emissions by 4.1% and GDP by 0.27%. Emissions drop by 8.2% and GDP drops by 0.54% when energy efficiency increases by 2% across the China economy, respectively. As a final result, a 5% shift away from burning coal would reduce emissions by 9.0%, while GDP would increase by 1.3%. It has been shown that even low carbon taxes can encourage a notable cleaner energy system. Copyright © 2022 Wei, Ayub and Dagar.

Enable a Carbon Efficient Power Grid via Minimal Uplift Payments

The COVID-19 has slowed down the global economic growth. Meanwhile, it also significantly cuts the global carbon emission, which provides a golden opportunity for the whole world to combat the climate change together. While the former policies (e.g., the CAFE standards, renewable portfolio standards, etc.) have reduced certain level of fossil fuel consumption, the most effective measures (such as carbon tax, cap-and-trade programs) are still far from ready for global implementation. This paper investigates an alternative way to achieve a more carbon efficient power grid using the uplift payment scheme. Specifically, we propose an effective algorithm to guarantee the carbon efficiency with the minimal uplift payments. We also submit that this scheme provides more flexibility to realize carbon reduction than carbon tax, which is exemplified by thorough numerical studies. Furthermore, we show that the stability of the power grid can be ensured under our uplift payment scheme, both from theoretical analysis and numerical studies. The results strengthen our belief that our uplift payment scheme is practicable for electricity market. IEEE

Inventory Model for COVID-19 Medicine under Carbon Emissions Sensitive Demand

In the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, there is another challenge to face: how to effectively dispense some medicines (like Remdesivir injection) amongst the multitudes to quickly achieve immunity against the corona infection. To overcome this situation, researchers and doctors are continuously active. This result into infected people get recovered. In this context, nations are now getting ready to face one more big challenge that is increases biomedical waste which causes carbon emissions. Since spoilage and deterioration results into a significant loss in medicines which hampers consumer’s satisfaction level as well affect the green environment. Keeping this in mind, the proposed article is addressed for an inventory model with carbon emissions sensitive demand which is a more realistic assumption and carbon tax policy is levied to diminish carbon emissions. A non-linear formulation is revealed with an objective to determine the optimum cycle length as to minimize total cost. The validity of the proposed model is demonstrated by presenting a numerical example. Sensitivity analysis is carried out to verify its factual practice. © 2021, International Forum of Management Scholars. All rights reserved.

A Moment of Intersecting Crises: Climate Justice in the Era of Coronavirus.

The author explores the nexus of 'climate chaos' and how this intersects with and exacerbates the top issues of our time-from immigration to public health to mass incarceration. She challenges us to think about the implications of these intersections for social justice and why policy makers need to stop considering the climate emergency as a siloed issue. Climate policy needs to be framed and rethought in an intersectional manner that centers equity, justice, and the creation of jobs.

Assessing Short-Term and Long-Term Economic and Environmental Effects of the COVID-19 Crisis in France.

In response to the COVID-19 health crisis, the French government has imposed drastic lockdown measures for a period of 55 days. This paper provides a quantitative assessment of the economic and environmental impacts of these measures in the short and long term. We use a Computable General Equilibrium model designed to assess environmental and energy policies impacts at the macroeconomic and sectoral levels. We find that the lockdown has led to a significant decrease in economic output of 5% of GDP, but a positive environmental impact with a 6.6% reduction in CO2 emissions in 2020. Both decreases are temporary: economic and environmental indicators return to their baseline trajectory after a few years. CO2 emissions even end up significantly higher after the COVID-19 crisis when we account for persistently low oil prices. We then investigate whether implementing carbon pricing can still yield positive macroeconomic dividends in the post-COVID recovery. We find that implementing ambitious carbon pricing speeds up economic recovery while significantly reducing CO2 emissions. By maintaining high fossil fuel prices, carbon taxation reduces the imports of fossil energy and stimulates energy efficiency investments while the full redistribution of tax proceeds does not hamper the recovery.

Covid-19 and Optimal Portfolio Selection for Investment in Sustainable Development Goals.

The Covid-19 pandemic and global economic recession has shrunk global energy demand and collapsed fossil fuel prices. Therefore, renewable energy projects are losing their competitiveness. This endangers the achievement of several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Various consulting companies define the SDGs differently. Institutional investors hire consulting companies and allocate their investment based on the consultants' suggestions. This paper theoretically shows that the current allocation of investors by considering SDG based on various consulting companies will lead to distortion in the investment portfolio. The desired portfolio allocation can be achieved by taxing pollution and waste such as CO2, NOx, and plastics, globally with the same tax rate. Global taxation on pollution will lead to the desired portfolio allocation of assets.