World leaders debate global carbon tax at World Economic Forum

World leaders heard calls for a global carbon tax as a solution to climate change during a panel discussion at an international conference. world economic forum The proposal was made in Switzerland this week and received a response from Saudi Arabia's finance minister.

Discussion by WEF participants carbon tax The remarks came up Friday during a panel discussion on the global economic outlook in the Swiss alpine resort of Davos, which hosts an annual conference of political leaders and business leaders from around the world. Singapore's President Tharuman Shanmugaratnam made the proposal, which was listened to by panellists Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organization, and Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank.

“There is no real solution to climate change other than a globally coordinated carbon tax system,” Shanmugaratnam said.

“There's a perception that it's unjust, it's unfair, it's going to lead to inflation,” Shanmugaratnam said. “In fact, quite the opposite is true. If we don't do this, it will ultimately be the developing countries that will suffer the most. They will be the most affected by climate change.”

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“What we need is a carbon tax system combined with subsidies for vulnerable households, providing financial flows for developing countries to invest, mitigate and adapt to continue growing.” “And it's a real opportunity. It's a fair solution, it's the only real solution, and we can't continue to ignore it.”

Minister of Finance Mohammed Al Jadaan Saudi Arabiasaid it agreed with Singapore's president's comments: “The risks from climate change are real and we should work together to find solutions that help the planet and people's livelihoods.”

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Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam called for a global carbon tax during a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum. (Stefan Vermes/via Bloomberg/Getty Images)

In response to the incident, Al-Jadaan said: paris climate agreement In 2014, developed countries pledged $100 billion a year to developing countries to combat climate change and move away from carbon-intensive energy, but the results have been “nearly zero.”

“I understand the president’s enthusiasm for a carbon tax and how it changes the equation, but he tied it to two things: grants to people in need – in their own communities; “Whenever we raise costs for society and others, we need to take care of the less fortunate and provide social safety nets. I agree.”

“The second warning the president made is that we need to find a way to direct some of that to low-income countries,” he added. “We tried it and it failed this time. So it's very difficult to try something similar to what you tried before in a different way and expect a different result. There's a lot of political resistance from developed countries. Politically, domestically, it's what we just heard.'' There were several comments. So it would be politically very difficult and very difficult to say we're going to impose a tax but direct some of it to low-income countries. ”

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Saudi Arabia's Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan cited the challenges of introducing a carbon tax and funneling funds to developing countries. (Fayez Nureldine/AFP via/Getty Images)

“Even as we enjoy this heated conference room here, let us remember that there are more than 600 million people in Africa who do not have basic electricity. There is no electricity at all,” Aljadan said.

“So to say to them, why are you looking for bread when you can go have your cake and eat it too, is hypocrisy in my opinion, because they have their own unique talents, we want them to be able to get out from under their feet. We need to help them get that talent, like gas. Let them do that. Facilitate their own transition,” he explained. “Help them access their own donations, leverage young people, empower young people, reskill and train young people. It’s something that really changes things.”

christian lindner german finance minister“I hope no one tells my coalition partners, my colleagues, my cabinet members that we are looking at raising taxes here. That would cause a huge problem domestically for me.'' answered.

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He added that while he shares the idea of ​​”combat global warming through ambitious action”, he believes better alternatives include: carbon market. For example, he explained, such a market would allow countries like Germany to invest in renewable electricity production in Africa as part of emissions compensation for Germany's steel industry.

“We should call on the OECD to develop a common framework for a global carbon market, as it has successfully done with global minimum tax efforts,” Lindner explained.