United States, China: climate ambitions are once again topical
Audio 03:30
Joe Biden's speech on the climate in Washington, January 27, 2021. REUTERS - KEVIN LAMARQUE
By: Pauline Gleize Follow
8 min
The fight against global warming is back on the front of the stage with the United States once again seizing the subject and a reform in China on carbon.
Because there is an emergency.
This is what is recalled by a 600-page study commissioned by London.
The international specialists who signed it under the direction of Partha Dasgupta, a professor of economics at Cambridge University, call for a rebalancing between nature and economy, with "growth at a devastating cost".
Publicity
Globally, per capita GNP has doubled since 1992. During this time, natural capital, that is, the profit from the services offered by nature, has fallen by 40% per capita.
The authors therefore call for rethinking the assessment of wealth, replacing the purely accounting calculation of growth with another indicator.
They suggest a calculation of economic well-being that takes into account the services rendered by nature.
But the proposed model assumes a systemic change and in particular a decarbonisation of the energy system.
These changes should be driven by "
coordination and political will similar to, or even greater than, the Marshall Plan
".
Towards the world's leading carbon market
On the decarbonisation side, China launched its carbon market this week.
For the first time, provincial authorities can set quotas for thermal power plants.
Companies in the sector, including 2,000 power plants that emit more than 26,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases per year, will be able to exchange “rights to pollute”.
Once at its cruising speed, the new system should cover a third of the carbon dioxide emissions of the world's largest polluter, according to the International Carbon Action Partnership.
Given the size of the Chinese economy, this carbon market should become the largest in the world and take the place of that of the European Union.
This should help achieve the goal that Beijing set itself last September: carbon neutrality by 2060.
But this carbon market may not be enough.
In fact, 60% of the country's power stations run on coal.
A
while experts expect to industry pressure for comfortable quotas - and therefore an advantageous carbon price.
The more allowances there are, the easier it will be to get them from a company that does not use all its stock, the less expensive the carbon will be.
Energy taxation
The price of carbon is, moreover, a major factor retained by the OECD in its recent recommendations for a reform of energy taxation in emerging and developing economies.
After studying around fifteen countries, including Egypt, Morocco and Côte d'Ivoire, the organization concludes that on average these 15 countries could raise the equivalent of 1% of GDP in public revenue s' they taxed carbon to the tune of 30 euros per tonne, a means of financing access to cleaner energy
.
The OECD also stresses that all countries must take better account of the effects of CO2 in their taxation.
In the countries of the Organization for Economic Development Cooperation and the G20, 70% of emissions are fully tax exempt.
"
No haggling
"
The British report also called for coordination.
On this point, the United States hopes to lead the dance
.
Joe Biden, who initiated the return of the country in the Paris Agreement
, will
now “
guide the global response
” to this crisis.
The US president, who has yet to present his $ 2 trillion plan, is also organizing a climate summit on April 22.
The United States also assures that it is ready to work with China on the file and to distinguish it from files on economic disputes, such as intellectual property or market access.
And to promise: these “
subjects will never be negotiated
”.
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