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China Likely to Set Carbon Tax, NDRC Researcher Says (Update1)
2010-11-26 10:15:20.300 GMT
(Updates with tax likely in first paragraph.)
By John Duce
Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) -- China, the world's biggest polluter,
is likely to introduce some form of carbon tax to help reduce
greenhouse-gas emissions, a government research official said.
Government researchers have studied and modeled various
scenarios for introducing a carbon tax, Jiang Kejun, director of
the Energy Research Institute at the National Development and
Reform Commission, said at a forum in Hong Kong today, without
elaborating on what kind of tariffs might be introduced or when.
China is taking measures on its own without a globally
binding treaty to reduce its carbon intensity, or the amount of
carbon it emits per unit of gross domestic product. There's lot
of debate and argument in the country over whether such a tax
should be introduced, with some saying a carbon tax is for rich
countries, according to Jiang.
The government is considering the possibility of a carbon
tax and will quicken steps to develop a carbon-trading system,
Xie Zhenhua, China's top official overseeing climate-change
talks, said on Nov. 23.
Xie didn't offer any new proposals for the United Nations
climate talks in Cancun, Mexico, starting Nov. 29, reaffirming
China's policy that rich countries such as the U.S. bore most of
the responsibility for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.
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jduce1@bloomberg.net
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