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With the severity of climate change, countries around the world are responding aggressively. Global carbon emissions declined in 2020, but rebounded rapidly in 2021, and carbon dioxide concentrations continue to rise. The international community has declared a climate change emergency. Countries have announced carbon neutrality targets and adopted key agreements such as the Paris Agreement and the Glasgow Climate Agreement. Carbon neutrality and net-zero emissions have become targets, with more than 140 countries around the world announcing such targets, covering most of their GDP and population. In 1988, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was established, marking an important milestone in modern climate change discussions. In 1992, the Earth Summit was held in Rio, Brazil, which established the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), laying the foundation for international climate governance. Since then, a series of international conferences, such as the Paris Agreement and the Glasgow Climate Agreement, have further emphasized the importance of carbon emission reduction and the need for carbon pricing policies, providing direction and guidance for global carbon management.
Carbon pricing is a concept developed under the framework of environmental economics, which aims to internalize the external costs of carbon emissions and promote environmental protection and market efficiency. The scientific basis of carbon pricing stems from the negative impacts of human emissions of greenhouse gases on climate change, especially carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, which cause the greenhouse effect, lead to climate change, and have multiple impacts on the natural ecology and human society. One of the solutions to this problem is carbon pricing, which puts a cost on carbon emissions and makes emitters pay for their actions, thus incentivizing them to reduce emissions and switch to a low-carbon economy.
Carbon pricing is a climate governance tool, which is usually categorized into two main types: internal carbon pricing and external carbon pricing. External carbon pricing includes the Emissions Trading System (ETS) and carbon tax. ETS is based on cap-and-trade or baseline and carbon credit trading, which minimizes emissions by providing emission rights and establishing a trading mechanism. Carbon tax, based on the Pigou Effect, imposes taxes on polluters to internalize environmental externalities and promote reductions in emissions.
According to a report by the World Bank, there are 73 carbon pricing programs in operation around the world, mainly using ETS or carbon taxes, with some countries using both. In the European Union, the EU ETS is the mainstay, with a higher carbon price than in other regions, while the global carbon price ranges widely, with Uruguay in South America being the highest, followed by Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Sweden and other countries. Businesses have also begun to implement internal carbon pricing systems, with more than 1,000 companies having done so and the number expected to grow to more than 2,500. Enterprises often seek to reduce emissions, increase the use of renewable energy, and promote low-carbon investments by understanding the shadow price of carbon emissions or developing internal carbon pricing mechanisms.
Overall, carbon pricing is on the rise globally, with ETS becoming the mainstream of future development, and companies are beginning to implement internal carbon pricing on their own in response to the challenges posed by climate change.
Translation 中文翻譯
隨著氣候變遷的嚴峻，全球各國積極應對。2020 年全球碳排放下降，但 2021 年迅速反彈，且二氧化碳濃度持續上升。國際社會已宣布進入氣候變遷緊急狀態。各國相繼宣布碳中和目標，並通過重要協定如《巴黎協定》和《格拉斯哥氣候協定》。碳中和與淨零排放成為目標，全球已有 140 多個國家宣布相關目標，覆蓋大部分 GDP 和人口。
1988 年，聯合國跨政府氣候變遷工作小組 (IPCC) 成立，開啟了現代氣候變遷討論的重要里程碑。1992 年，地球高峰會 (Earth Summit) 在巴西里約召開，確立了《聯合國氣候變化綱要公約》(UNFCCC)，為國際氣候治理奠定了基礎。此後，一系列國際會議如《巴黎協定》和《格拉斯哥氣候協定》進一步強調了碳減排的重要性和碳定價政策的必要性，為全球碳管理提供了方向和指導。
碳定價是在環境經濟學框架下提出的概念，旨在內部化碳排放的外部成本，促進環境保護和市場效率。其科學基礎源於人類排放的溫室氣體對氣候變遷的負面影響，尤其是二氧化碳等溫室氣體的排放，造成溫室效應，導致氣候變遷，對自然生態和人類社會產生多方面的衝擊。解決這一問題的方法之一是通過碳定價，即將碳排放納入成本，使排放者為其行為支付費用，從而激勵他們降低排放並轉向低碳經濟。
碳定價是一項氣候治理工具，通常分為內部碳定價和外部碳定價兩大類。外部碳定價包括碳排放交易系統 (ETS) 和碳稅兩種機制。ETS 基於總量管制與交易或基線與碳信用交易，通過提供排放權和建立交易機制，使排放量達到最小化。碳稅則是依據庇古理論，對汙染者徵收稅款，內部化環境外部成本，促進排放量降低。
根據世界銀行的報告，全球有 73 個運作中的碳定價計畫，主要採用 ETS 或碳稅，部分國家則兩者兼有。在歐盟，EU ETS 成為主流，其碳價高於其他地區，而全球碳價範圍廣泛，南美洲的烏拉圭為最高，其次為列支敦斯登、瑞士、瑞典等國。企業界也開始實施內部碳定價制度，超過 1,000 家企業已採用，並預期增至超過 2,500 家。企業通常透過了解碳排放影子價格或制定內部碳費機制，達到減量、提高再生能源使用率、推動低碳投資等目標。
總體而言，碳定價在全球呈現增長趨勢，ETS 成為未來發展的主流，企業也開始自主實施內部碳定價以因應氣候變化所帶來的挑戰。
CHECK THIS OUT 學習知識點
‘Global carbon emissions declined in 2020, but rebounded rapidly in 2021.’
Notice that here you need to use the past simple, because we have two dates, both of which are in the finished past time.
‘The international community has declared a climate change emergency.’
Notice that here we use present perfect because no time is mentioned and the sentence is about the result of an action which still exists in the present unfinished time. Be careful about your verb tenses!
「2020 年全球碳排放下降，但 2021 年迅速反彈。」
請注意，這裡需要使用簡單過去式，因為有兩個日期，而這兩個日期都是已完成的過去時間。
請注意，這裡需要使用簡單過去式，因為有兩個日期，而這兩個日期都是已完成的過去時間。
「國際社會已宣布進入氣候變遷緊急狀態。」
此處則使用現在完成式，因為沒有提到時間，並且該句子是關於當前未完成時間中仍然存在的動作的結果。
此處則使用現在完成式，因為沒有提到時間，並且該句子是關於當前未完成時間中仍然存在的動作的結果。
動詞時態請多加留意！
