Europe’s plan to create jobs and reach zero carbon

7 February 2020 by Jason Quinn

Creating net jobs while cutting net emissions is going to be challenging. Although the building sector can do this through efficiency—saving money at the same time as we build better buildings—not every sector of the economy can do this. The least painful way forward is to take the long view to net-zero and plan for it. Individuals, companies and governments can then make good investment decisions as they know where we need to go. Otherwise poor decisions that are focused only on first costs will be made.

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said the ‘European Green Deal is our new growth strategy. It will help us cut emissions while creating jobs’.”

Carbon border tax

A key component of the deal is a carbon border tax. Carbon pricing (a tax or a cap-and-trade system) is intended to make carbon-intensive goods more expensive in a bid to shift the economy towards renewables and energy efficiency.

Taxing the embodied carbon of imported goods would encourage other countries to take action to reduce emissions by making their exports less competitive. It would also help to protect the competitiveness of domestic European companies.

The idea is supported in the United States by presidential hopefuls, former vice president Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who both have carbon taxes in their climate plans.”

— 7 February 2020

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