Carbon
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Publications by Dieter Helm
WORK IN PROGRESS: Carbon Taxes paper for the Policy Exchange (Jan/Feb 2010)
31st March 2010
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News
'Carbon tax' is sensible, and perhaps inevitable, advocate says
21st November 2009
From the LA Times: Dieter Helm of Oxford says climate change policy should focus not on carbon production, but carbon consumption. A tax on carbon-heavy activities places the emphasis where it belongs, he says. By Henry Chu Reporting from Oxford, England <br /> With the global climate change summit in Copenhagen just a few weeks away, gloom has settled in many quarters over the increasing likelihood that a robust international treaty to lower carbon emissions is out of reach, at least...
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Emissions reductions are misleading, says government's new science adviser
1st October 2009
Britain's reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases are misleading, according to the government's new chief scientist. Professor David MacKay told the BBC that greenhouse gas emissions created by Britons are probably twice as bad as official figures suggest. The figures are distorted because developing countries now made the goods that Britain buys, he said. "Our energy footprint has decreased over the last few decades and that's largely because we've exported our industry," MacKay said. "...
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Trust me – we have a serious carbon credibility problem
26th September 2009
By Tim Harford in the FT: My daughters (average age: four) have a serious credibility problem. “Daddy, if you read just one more story, then we’ll go to sleep.” “Mummy, if you give me a snack now, I promise I’ll eat up all my dinner.” You know what, my darlings? We just don’t believe you, so there’ll be no extra story and no snack. Such troubles are not solely the preserve of little girls. Managers promise performance bonuses, workers do not...
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Taming the carbonivores
17th September 2009
From The Economist: FRANCE’S president, Nicolas Sarkozy, does not like to do things by halves. In characteristically grandiose fashion he described his plan to introduce a carbon tax as “the only choice that could guarantee…the future of our planet”. If it goes ahead, France would be the first big country to adopt such a tax, which exists in Scandinavia. But the proposal has already run into fierce hostility, from consumers, opposition parties—and even greens. Mr...
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Carbon market clouded by uncertainty
From the BBC: By Damian KahyaBBC News The offices of London's carbon trading companies are a little quieter than usual. The firms - many based in the City - buy and sell one of the world's newest commodities: carbon dioxide. The trade in such permits allows polluters to pay for emissions reductions made elsewhere. The market could be huge, but its future is now uncertain. It depends on how governments decide to tackle climate change beyond 2012. The trade was first created by the Kyoto protocol...