ANNOUNCEMENTS
The paper majorly deals with the meaning of Carbon tax and the various dimensions of carbon tax as to what is the basis of instituting a carbon tax and why is it needed? It poses the question of whether India needs Carbon Tax to combat climate change and covers briefly some of the existing fiscal measures which the country has promulgated and using. Carbon Tax is basically a price fixed by the government to be paid by the emitters for every ton of green house gas produced. This generally lead to the companies switching technology or methods of manufacturing products which produce less and less GHGs.
To have a deep understanding of the importance of combating the climate change on the cost of taxing people, there needs to be a intensive research carried out on adverse affects of climate change and mitigating factors. The paper also takes under its wing to explain the various emissions and what constitutes Green house Gases. Emissions of gases such as carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane and other green houses gases are resulting in high temperature in the atmosphere globally which we can see in the form of climate change taking place. These emissions relate to the shifting rainfall patterns, boosting storm intensity, harming marine life and so on and so forth. We can safely say that greenhouse gases “create a host of potential economic and environmental threats, including property damage from storms, human health risks, reduced agricultural productivity, and ecosystem deterioration.
Whilst studying the tax structures of U.S. and European Union(EU) there is an attempt in arriving at the needs and structure most suitable for India as a country looking at its economic history. Shakti Foundation has also proposed a tax structure for India and in it contains international study which has been carried out internationally so as to determine the factors based on which tax can be instituted. The U.S. directive contains all legal framework for carbon tax system which is also discussed briefly.
An attempt is made to come up with key elements which is to be kept in mind by policymakers before deciding on the structure of carbon tax. The ETS system of the EU has garnered much attention but the question remains as to whether to tax the substances or the emissions.
