New report reveals advantages of carbon tax above other taxes

Ethical MarketsReforming Global Finance, Resource Efficiency

We at Ethical Markets support fully these policy proposals, Hazel Henderson, Editor  

A groundbreaking report contributed to by Green Budget Europe will be published tomorrow, highlighting the advantages of carbon-energy tax and pricing measures in comparison to indirect and direct taxation for employment and GDP growth. The report shows that, Euro for Euro, energy and carbon taxes have a lower negative impact on the economy, consumption and jobs than income tax or VAT. Carbon and energy taxes can raise revenue while leaving the economy is a stronger state to sustain the recovery. Conventional taxes raise revenue, but pose a much greater risk of depressing growth in the process.

The report is entitled Carbon taxation and fiscal consolidation: the potential of carbon pricing to reduce Europe’s fiscal deficits and is the result of a collaboration between the European Climate Foundation and Green Budget Europe, in association with Vivid Economics.

A number of ex-Finance Ministers, including Hans Eichel, former German Minister of Finance 1999-2005 and Yannis Palaiokrassas, former Greek Minister of Finance and European Commissioner for the Environment and Fisheries, and other prominent political figures, including Dr. Franz Fischler, former EU-Commissioner for Agriculture and Fisheries, Dr. Josef Riegler, former Vice-Chancellor of Austria and Dr. Martin Bursík, former deputy Prime Minister, former Environment Minister, Czech Republic, have signed an open letter to Europe’s Finance Ministers, meeting in Brussels today and tomorrow, to call on policy makers to take note of the CETRiE report’s findings and to explore smart taxation as a means of achieving fiscal consolidation.

The open letter and an Executive Summary of the report are attached. The full report is available here.

We would be delighted if you would upload the report on your website/s and disseminate it widely to others who may be interested in its findings.

Very best regards,

The GBE Team

Jacqueline, Kai and Constanze