Study: South African Carbon Tax Could Spur Gross Domestic Product Growth

摘要

South Africa's proposed carbon tax will boost growth in the economy provided the revenue is reinvested in green-energy projects, according to Folsom, Calif.-based Applied Development Research Solutions. The government is completing a law to tax emissions and help it meet a target to reduce greenhouse gases by 34 percent below a scenario of "business as usual" in five years and by 42 percent by 2025. The tax will start at 120 rand ($8.50) per metric ton of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions and increase by 10 percent a year until 2019. The law will likely come into effect in about a year and would add to costs for the nation's biggest polluters such as power utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. and oil company Sasol Ltd.