A carbon tax is vital for curbing emissions of carbon dioxide, a major contributor to global warming, according to the draft of a report being compiled by an Environment Agency panel.
Even a low rate of tax will substantially help reduce carbon dioxide emissions if revenue from it is used to subsidize the cost of buying of energy-saving equipment and facilities by companies, organizations or individuals, says the draft, obtained Sunday by Kyodo News.
Revenue from the tax, which would be imposed on parties according to the amount of carbon they emit when using petroleum or coal, can also be used to purchase quotas from other countries allowed to emit the gas, as stipulated in the Kyoto Protocol adopted at the 1997 U.N. climate conference in Kyoto, it says.