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World needs a global carbon tax, says aluminium billionaire

Almost every Australian mining company believes that a carbon tax in some form or another is necessary to provide the certainty required for investment. But Mr Deripaska’s call for a $US15-a-tonne tax represents a bold call in comparison

Rusal’s Deripaska calls for worldwide carbon tax THE AUSTRALIAN JANUARY 13, 2016 Barry Fitzgerald Resources Editor Melbourne

Billionaire Russian aluminium king Oleg Deripaska has slammed the lack of action after the Paris climate summit, saying the world needs to act now on introducing a carbon tax to curb emissions and fund the rise of renewables.

Writing exclusively in The Australian, Mr Deripaska, president of the world’s biggest aluminium group Rusal, says the outcome of the Paris summit late last year was nothing more than an agreement for 196 countries to “kick the can down the road a few decades’’……..

He says that without immediate action on a carbon tax, the ­losers from the Paris Summit are “those of us who breathe the air, drink the water, and wish for the safe and healthy environment our children and grandchildren deserve”.

………….“It is now incumbent on global governments, corporations and citizens to bring action to the words of Paris,’’ Mr Deripaska adds. He has suggested a carbon tax starting off at $US15 a tonne, increasing over time.

• “Such a tax would constitute a clear pricing mechanism and signal to the global market, providing a powerful disincentive to carbon producers and consumers,’’ Mr Deripaska says.He suggests one-third of the revenue raised could be used to “unleash an unprecedented wave of R&D investment in energy-­efficient and lower carbon emissions energy sources’’……….
• A carbon tax is no stranger to either Australian government or industry, with the first proposal coming from the Hawke-Keating government in 1991 in a secret cabinet proposal sponsored by treasurer Keating. Industry reacted savagely against the proposal when the news was leaked via the media and the idea was shut down.The Howard government picked up the ball with its Renewable Energy Target in November 1997. It was a forerunner of the emissions trading system proposed by the Rudd government, which ended in Kevin Rudd’s eventual ousting on the back of Tony Abbott’s relentless campaign against the introduction of any carbon tax or emissions trading.

  Mr Rudd’s successor Julia Gillard introduced the carbon tax in July 2012 that ended in her defeat as prime minister, and the tax was repealed by the newly elected Abbott government in July 2014.

  Almost every Australian mining company believes that a carbon tax in some form or another is necessary to provide the certainty required for investment. But Mr Deripaska’s call for a $US15-a-tonne tax represents a bold call in comparison……. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/rusals-deripaska-calls-for-worldwide-carbon-tax/news-story/651eabfd65e51841b6b9899fd895f444

January 13, 2016 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, climate change