全球变化知识资源中心

A carbon tax is potentially a policy that can reduce CO2 emissions and mitigate climate risks, at lowest economy-wide costs. We develop a dynamic CGE model for Spain to assess the economic and environmental effects of a carbon tax, and test the double dividend (DD) hypothesis. We simulate the impact of three carbon taxes: euro10, euro20 and euro30 per ton of CO2. For each tax, four 'revenue recycling' scenarios are examined: a reduction of taxes on capital, on labor, on value-added tax, and a scenario in which revenues are not recycled. We find a DD for taxes of euro10/ton and lower, within five to seven years of implementation. We estimate an annual CO2 emissions reduction of around 10% with this tax. Under some circumstances, the DD can be achieved for a tax of euro20/ton. In any case, recycling revenues to cut pre-existing taxes reduces costs of imposing carbon taxes.