Kanisa George
A significant contributor to the global warming dilemma is the process of carbon emissions. Carbon emission refers to releasing greenhouse gases and/or their precursors into the atmosphere over a specified area and period. The presence of carbon dioxide is mainly due to human activities and stems from the burning of fossil fuels and the manufacturing industry.
According to observations by the NOAA Global Monitoring Lab, in 2021, carbon dioxide alone was responsible for about two-thirds of the total heating influence of all human-produced greenhouse gases. Science has proven that the only way to save our environment and stop the cooling effect would be to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases significantly. Yet even if this is done, scientists estimate that if global emissions suddenly stopped, it would take a long time for surface air temperatures and the ocean to begin to cool.
This is due to the excess CO2 in the atmosphere, which according to research, would remain in the atmosphere for a long time and continue to exert a warming effect.
Scientists predict that future technological advancements might be able to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. In such 'negative emissions' scenarios, we might be able to reverse CO2-driven warming and reduce the time scale of excessive warming.
Until then, specific carbon emission policies have been developed in many countries to combat the cooling effect.
A 1991 research paper by Parry and Williams strongly recommended broad-based emissions taxes and tradable emissions permits over other policy instruments to protect the environment.
Other policy instruments, such as command and control policies and indirect environmental taxes (such as taxes on energy use rather than on emissions), do not cover all sources of emissions in the economy.
Usually, carbon policies focus on carbon taxes and other pricing mechanisms, improvements in fuel efficiency, alternative fuel, and congestion mitigation. However, of all the recommended carbon policies, implementing a carbon tax is by far the most popular.
Carbon taxation, also known as carbon pricing or price of carbon, refers to a fee imposed on the burning of carbon-based fuels (coal, oil, gas). This policy is inherently aimed at reducing and eventually eliminating the use of fossil fuels. Supporters of carbon tax believe that forcing users of carbon fuels to pay for the climate damage caused by releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is the only way to effect change to the system. It is hoped that if these taxes are set high, it becomes a powerful monetary disincentive that motivates companies to switch clean energy across the economy, simply by making it more economically rewarding to move to non-carbon fuels and energy efficiency.
Countries worldwide are implementing carbon taxes to compensate for the pollution being spread by large corporations and industries. According to the World Bank, 68 direct carbon
