By David Okul
May 13, 2019
On January 17, 2019, a number of prominent economists published a statement titled, ““Economists’ Statement on Carbon Dividends” Various prominent personnel have signed the statement. They include:
- Nobel laureates
- Chair of Federal Reserve
- Chairs of council of economic advisers
- Former chairs of US Department of Treasury
As of 27th March 2019, 3,500 US economists had signed the statement. A list of all the signatories can be accessed in the link https://www.clcouncil.org/economists-statement/
The statement by economists shows that environmental conservation is becoming a genuinely pertinent issue even in developed economies
The statement acknowledges that Global climate change is a pertinent problem of the world. They suggest policy recommendations based on sound economic principles. Some of their recommendations include:
- A carbon tax. The economists believe that carbon tax offers the most cost effective way of reducing emissions at a reasonable scale and speed.
- An increasing carbon tax: The tax should increase until emission targets are met. They argue that by increasing the tax, businesses would be encouraged to innovate solutions that would reduce carbon emissions.
- Implementation of carbon tax policy will reduce the need for inefficient carbon regulations.
- Establishment of a border carbon adjustment system to prevent carbon leakage and the competiveness of American businesses.
- A mechanism to return all the revenues to US citizens via equal lump-sum rebates
Personally, I think that the statement is a step in the right direction towards combating the challenge of climate change. For a long time, it has been assumed that economic development is a priority over environmental management in many policies. The fact that economists have taken the lead in ensuring that production factors in environmental and social costs means that at least America is ready for genuine sustainable development.
David Okul is an environmental consultant and a PhD student at a Kenyan university
