(Press-News.org) Not all carbon emissions are made for the same reason—they range from more essential purposes like heating a home to nonessential “luxury” activities like leisure travel. However, proposals for the implementations of carbon taxes tend to apply to all emissions at an equal rate. This can give rise to and exacerbate inequalities. A new analysis published on July 11 in the journal One Earth suggests taxing luxury carbon emissions at a higher rate instead; if all 88 countries analyzed in this study adopted the luxury-focused policy, this would achieve 75% of the emissions reduction needed to reach the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting climate change to well below 2°C by 2050.
“There is an injustice in terms of who uses energy, or carbon, for basic or luxury purposes, but it hasn’t been translated into explicit policy yet,” says Yannick Oswald (@yl_oswald), an economist at the University of Leeds. “In this study, we test policies derived from this knowledge for the first time.”
Several countries—such as Canada and Mexico—have active carbon pricing policies. These policies either price all emissions at an equal rate or target one type of emission, such as heat or fuel. However, past research has shown that, in high-income countries, these policies tend to affect low-income households the most while failing to have a large impact on emissions. This might be because resources such as heat or fuel make up a greater portion of low-income spending and are difficult to do without.
To test the impact of a tax program that distinguishes between carbon emissions from basic or luxury activities, the researchers built a model based on household carbon footprints from 88 different countries. For each country, they designed a tax rate for different types of purchases, ensuring activities that make up a greater proportion of low-income spending would be taxed less relative to activities that make up a greater proportion of high-income spending. In the US, for example, vacation travel would be taxed at a higher rate than heating.
They used this model to test the outcome of either their luxury carbon tax rates or a uniform carbon tax rate. Under a uniform tax rate, 37% of global carbon tax revenue would come from luxury purchases. This increases to 52% under a luxury-focused tax program.
Not only was the luxury tax “fairer” based on household income – affecting low-income households less and high-income households more – it also was slightly better at reducing yearly household emissions in the very short-term. The researchers note that this might be because it is more feasible to forgo luxury purchases than an essential purchase if the price increases.
While the luxury tax proved fairer in all countries studied, the researchers found that, in low-income countries, a uniform tax could also be fair. In South Africa, for example, low-income households already spend much less on fuel or heating than high-income households. Thus, a uniform carbon tax is already targeting high-income groups by design. In contrast, the luxury carbon tax is most beneficial in terms of fairness when applied to high-income countries. This tax can better account for flexible, nonessential purchases in countries like the United States, where it is difficult to avoid carbon-emitting activities like driving a car in a low-income lifestyle.
While this type of policy could make significant progress towards reducing global emissions, the researchers also note that this goal might be difficult to achieve in practice. Few countries have a carbon tax scheme that is currently this rigorous. Luxury-focused carbon taxation also targets high-income groups, which may be the most equipped to lobby against such a policy going into effect.
“Global support by the public for fair climate policies is high, and it is likely that luxury-focused carbon taxes are similarly popular,” says Oswald. “Despite the model’s limitations, the big takeaway is this: when designing climate policies, it is possible to pay attention to the different nature of consumption purposes, and this would improve the fairness of climate policy almost by default.”
###
This work was supported by the Leverhulme Trust, the UK Research and Innovation Energy Programme, and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. The authors declare no competing interests.
One Earth, Oswald et al. “Luxury-focused carbon taxation improves fairness of climate policy” https://www.cell.com/one-earth/fulltext/S2590-3322(23)00261-0
One Earth (@OneEarth_CP), published by Cell Press, is a monthly journal that features papers from the fields of natural, social, and applied sciences. One Earth is the home for high-quality research that seeks to understand and address today’s environmental Grand Challenges, publishing across the spectrum of environmental change and sustainability science. A sister journal to Cell, Chem, and Joule, One Earth aspires to break down barriers between disciplines and stimulate the cross-pollination of ideas with a platform that unites communities, fosters dialogue, and encourages transformative research. Visit http://www.cell.com/one-earth. To receive Cell Press media alerts, contact press@cell.com.
END
When an electric vehicle is parked outside, its temperature can swing wildly from day to night and season to season, which can lead to deterioration of the battery. To dampen these fluctuations and extend the battery’s lifespan, researchers have designed an all-season thermal cloak that can cool an electric vehicle by 8°C on a hot day and warm it by 6.8°C at night. The cloak, made predominantly of silica and aluminum, can do so passively without outside energy input and operates without any modification between hot or cold weather. This prototype is described July 11 in the newly launched Device, an application-oriented sister journal ...
WASHINGTON, July 11, 2023 – Compared to artificial tears, or eye drops, human tears are significantly more complex liquids, with a wide range of components including lipids, carbohydrates, proteins, water, and salt. It is this complex mixture that gives tears the perfect thickness and ability to moisturize the eye, a design that is hard to replicate with fewer ingredients.
In Physics of Fluids, from AIP Publishing, Vega et al. researched human tears at the micron level to reveal new ways of customizing artificial tears to address individual symptoms of dry eye disease. The detailed insights they gained about the composition and behavior ...
Unborn babies use ‘greedy’ gene from dads to ‘remote-control’ mums into feeding them extra food
Fetuses use a copy of a gene inherited from their dad to force their mum to release as much nutrients as possible during pregnancy, Cambridge scientists have discovered.
The unborn baby ‘remote controls’ its mother’s metabolism so the two are in a nutritional tug of war. The mother’s body wants the baby to survive but needs to keep enough glucose and fats circulating in her system for her own health, to be able to deliver ...
WASHINGTON, July 11, 2023 – Inspired by the need to safeguard marine animals and promote sustainable solutions within marine environments, an interdisciplinary team of researchers from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia and Sofia University in Bulgaria are delving into the hydrodynamics of buoyant objects at the air-water interface.
By studying these dynamics, their goal is to expand the understanding of fluid hydrodynamics and complex surface interactions – and advance fields such as the design and performance of marine engineering systems, buoy systems, and ...
About The Study: The findings of this study suggest that personally mediated racial discrimination may be a risk factor for developing obesity in children and adolescents, above and beyond socioeconomic status. The results highlight the need for a multifaceted approach to address racial discrimination and its impact on the health of children and adolescents.
Authors: Adolfo G. Cuevas, Ph.D., of the New York University School of Global Public Health in New York, is the corresponding author.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
(doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.22839)
Editor’s Note: Please ...
About The Study: In this cohort study of U.S. veterans, the findings suggest that those with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease who reside in historically redlined neighborhoods continue to have a higher prevalence of traditional cardiovascular risk factors and higher cardiovascular risk. Even close to a century after this practice was discontinued, redlining appears to still be adversely associated with adverse cardiovascular events.
Authors: Sadeer Al-Kindi, M.D., of University Hospitals in Cleveland, and Salil V. Deo, ...
July 11, 2023 (BOSTON) – A new national study, led by researchers at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, has found whole genome sequencing (WGS) to be nearly twice as effective as a targeted gene sequencing test at identifying abnormalities responsible for genetic disorders in newborns and infants. The study, “A Comparative Analysis of Rapid Whole Genomic Sequencing and a Targeted Neonatal Gene Panel in Infants with a Suspected Genetic Disorder: The Genomic Medicine for Ill Neonates and Infants ...
Children who experience racial discrimination are more likely to later have a higher body mass index (BMI) and larger waistline, according to a new study published in JAMA Network Open. The findings illustrate that racial discrimination may be a risk factor for young people developing obesity—above and beyond other socioeconomic factors such as family income.
“Exposure to racial discrimination must be acknowledged as both a social determinant of obesity and a significant contributor to obesity disparities among children and adolescents,” said Adolfo Cuevas, assistant professor of social and behavioral sciences at the NYU School of Global Public Health and the study’s ...
BOSTON – The first large-scale U.S. clinical trial of cytisinicline, led by a Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigator, found the smoking cessation medication to be effective and well tolerated in adults who wished to break their nicotine dependence. In the Phase 3 study published in JAMA, researchers reported that cytisinicline could offer adults who smoke a potential new treatment option.
“Cigarette smoking remains the leading preventable cause of death worldwide, yet no new smoking cessation medication has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for nearly two decades,” says Nancy Rigotti, MD, director of MGH’s ...
That experiences leave their trace in the connectivity of the brain has been known for a while, but a pioneering study by researchers at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) and TUD Dresden University of Technology now shows how massive these effects really are. The findings in mice provide unprecedented insights into the complexity of large-scale neural networks and brain plasticity. Moreover, they could pave the way for new brain-inspired artificial intelligence methods. The results, based on an innovative “brain-on-chip” technology, are published in the scientific journal Biosensors and Bioelectronics.
The Dresden researchers explored ...
