The study on carbon pricing appears in Nature Communications
Putting a price on CO2 emissions works. Not only that: carbon pricing is a tool that gives excellent results in a very short time. And in any configuration. Only in the first year after entry into force, carbon pricing mechanisms manage to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a percentage between 5 and 21%.
This is suggested by a study published in Nature Communications which analyses 21 carbon markets around the world, reconstructing its effectiveness through the examination (meta-analysis) of 80 empirical studies. Of which 35 related to carbon pricing pilot mechanisms in various provinces of China, 13 on the European Emission Trading System (ETS), and then again Canadian British Columbia, the regional ETS systems of the United States, Australia, Japan, Korea Southern, Great Britain. This is the most complete and rigorous analysis conducted to date on this topic.
“Immediate and substantial” reductions thanks to carbon pricing
The introduction of a carbon price has produced “immediate and substantial reductions of emissions” for at least 17 of these schemes, the authors point out. A result that is achieved “despite the low price level in most cases”. An important piece of data because it confirms that using ETS mechanisms set up progressively, even if initially with a very low quota value, can give immediate results.
“Statistically significant emissions reductions range between –5% and –21% across all programs”, the authors continue, explaining that even after applying corrections to make the studies comparable and limit the effect of possible biases, the values of greenhouse gas reductions are between -4 and -15%. Two factors contribute more than others to the effectiveness of carbon pricing. On the one hand, a communication and architecture of the carbon system “aggressive”that is, capable of triggering a “ad effect”. On the other hand, a context that is still favorable to the industries involved thanks to low costs of carbon quotas.
