A brand new mannequin regulation launched at present by the Commonwealth Secretariat will assist nations implement a carbon tax to scale back greenhouse gasoline emissions and obtain the Paris Agreement’s purpose of limiting international heating to 1.5°C.
The Commonwealth Carbon Tax Model Law was introduced at a high-level occasion on 6 December 2023 in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, through the United Nations Local weather Change Convention (COP28).
Guided by the ‘polluter-pay precept’, the mannequin regulation offers for an simply administrable carbon tax, with the tax being levied on fossil fuels firms and industrial emitters. This method will assist guarantee that almost all of emissions in most Commonwealth nations are taxed.
Governments and legislators from the 56 Commonwealth nations can use the mannequin regulation as a place to begin to draft new laws or adapt sure provisions to present statutes in step with their native circumstances and nationwide local weather plans.
Implementing a carbon tax outlined within the mannequin regulation would assist nations scale back their carbon emissions, entice new funding for clear power and increase authorities income, whereas contributing to their nationwide local weather commitments underneath the Paris Settlement.
Launching the mannequin regulation, the Commonwealth Secretary-Common, the Rt Hon Patricia Scotland KC, stated:
“Delivering the Paris Settlement stays humanity’s best hope. However globally, present local weather motion is just too weak and too sluggish, whereas the window for motion continues to slim.
“There may be widespread settlement that one of the crucial efficient methods to assist nations meet the net-zero carbon emissions goal of the Paris Settlement is carbon taxation.
“Contemplating the rising curiosity on this space and the necessity for a coordinated method, this mannequin regulation is a useful useful resource for all 56 Commonwealth nations, as they search to keep away from the worst results of local weather change and introduce insurance policies for a extra sustainable and affluent widespread future.”
To make sure a simply transition, the mannequin regulation consists of provisions for measuring and mitigating the carbon tax’s impression on low-income households and different weak teams.
That is achieved by common impression reporting, stakeholder engagement and by directing income generated from the carbon tax in the direction of supporting clear power initiatives for low-income households.
The brand new mannequin regulation is the most recent in a collection of Commonwealth mannequin legal guidelines produced by the Commonwealth Secretariat.
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