Emissions trading ethics
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Authors
Colleges, School and Institutes
External organisations
- Centre for Ethics and Humanism
- Bioethics Institute Ghent
Abstract
Although emissions trading is embraced as a means to curb carbon emissions and to incentivize the use of renewable energy, it is also heavily contested on ethical grounds. We will assess the main fundamental objections and possible counterarguments. Although we sympathize with some of these arguments, we argue that they are unpersuasive when an emissions trading system is well designed: emissions should be accounted ‘upstream,’ on the production rather than the consumer level. Moreover, allowances should be auctioned, and regulatory measures (such as an escalating tax on additional allowances) could instigate the right kind of behavior towards the environment.
Details
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 60-75 |
Journal | Ethics, Policy and Environment |
Volume | 19 |
Issue number | 1 |
Early online date | 7 Jun 2016 |
Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 7 Jun 2016 |
Keywords
- climate change, emissions trading