Opinion by Mathew Carr
Dec. 10-11, 2023 — (Dubai) Now is a better time than usual to make polluters pay because oil and gas have fallen considerably in the past few months.
See this example in Singapore for how carbon can rise in a predictable fashion, if a country does not want to grapple with cap-and-trade carbon markets:
Pic: hazy Dubai Sunday, where Cop28 struggles to be useful…
Excerpt from Straits Times story (Singapore dollars): In 2024, Singapore’s carbon tax will rise to $25 (USD19) per tonne of emissions, up from $5 per tonne now. This will be raised to $45 per tonne of emissions in 2026, and eventually to between $50 and $80 per tonne of emissions by 2030.
Introduced in 2019, the carbon tax was set at $5 per tonne for five years till 2023 to provide a transition period for facilities that directly emit at least 25,000 tonnes of emissions annually.
So Singaporeans are facing higher household bills — about S$48 in 2024, according to the story.
Dubai, where negotiators have gathered for COP28 climate talks due to end tomorrow, feels a little like Singapore, a modern, well-planned city … at least superficially.
The declining fossil-fuel prices provide this “gap” for carbon allowances to replace the cost in the energy “stack.” Making polluters pay will encourage a faster shift to clean energy.
Gap for carbon prices
So the lower oil, gas and coal prices present an opportunity for COP28 because if envoys decide this week to expand co2 pricing …that will push oil, natural gas and coal back up (but only for those people and industry sticking with damaging fuels).
Room to manoeuvre
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