A Symphony for Energy

Transcription

1 CO 2 in Goods Agime Gerbeti 16th Global Conference on Environmental Taxation September 2015

2 CO 2 Ton EU Objectives Year Source OSCE

3 Carbon Market In 2009, analysts relied on a price of EUAs to be around ) ETS has not been attractive to other subjects 2) The CO 2 price has collapsed in a not worthy level 3) In the coming years ETS (auctions) will turn into a negotiable tax 4) ETS has never had an urge to lower emissions globally 5) The recession did the rest EUA CER EUA 0.03 CER

4 EU-USA economic framework As stated by DG Trade on the relationship between energy cost and industrial competitiveness it can be exemplified by the performance of GDP between EU and USA. Higher energy costs tend to reduce exports: 1% increase in the cost share of electricity, results in approximately 1.6 % decline in exports. (DG Trade 2014, Energy and competitiveness). The period considered corresponds to the shale gas revolution, to the tight oil and to the substantial US energy independence Euro Area GDP US GDP

5 EU Trade Balance Already, the EU trade balance is in substantial breakeven with the US & India but in loss against China Within a few years, EU could become almost exclusively a market of consumers rather than a market for production EU Export to China EU Import from China Trade in goods , billions Source: European Commission DGTrade Today we export goods produced with low emissions and we import high emitting intensity products

6 Pop CHINA Emissions: 7,8 bn tonn CO 2 Popolation: mln GDP: INDIA Emissions: 1,7 bn tonn CO Popolation: mln GDP: OECD Europe Emissions: 4,2 bn tonn CO 2 Popolation: 350 mln GDP: USA Emissions: 5,6 bn tonn CO 2 Popolation: 300 mln GDP: GDP

7 Pop CHINA Emissions: 11,5 bn tonn CO Popolation: mln GDP: INDIA Emissions: 2,1 bn tonn CO 2 Popolation: mln GDP: USA Emissions: 5,5 bn tonn CO 2 Popolation: 330 mln GDP: OECD Europe Emissions: 4,1 bn tonn CO 2 Popolation: 350 mln GDP: GDP

8 Pop INDIA Emissions: 2,6 bn tonn CO 2 Popolation: mln GDP: CHINA Emissions: 14 bn tonn CO 2 Popolation: mln GDP: OECD Europe USA Emissions: 5,5 bn tonn CO 2 Popolation: 350 mln GDP: Emissions: 4,1 bn tonn CO 2 Popolation: 350 mln GDP: GDP

9 Pop 160 INDIA Emissions: 3,3 bn tonn CO 2 Popolation : mln GDP: CHINA Emissions: 15 bn tonn CO Popolation: mln GDP: USA Emissions: 5,7 bn tonn CO 2 OECD Europe Popolation: 370 mln GDP: Emissions: 4,2 bn tonn CO 2 Popolation: 350 mln GDP: GDP

10 Carbon border tax (1/2) Article I General Most-Favoured-Nation Treatment Any advantage, favour, privilege or immunity granted by any contracting party to any product originating in or destined for any other country, shall be accorded immediately and unconditionally to the like product originating in, or destined for the territories of all other contracting parties. Article XX General Exceptions Subject to the requirement that such measures are not applied in a manner which would constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination between countries where the same conditions prevail, or a disguised restriction on international trade, nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to prevent the adoption or enforcement by any contracting party of measures: (b) (g) necessary to protect human, animal or plant life or health; relating to the conservation of exhaustible natural resources if such measures are made effective in conjunction with restrictions on domestic production or consumption;

11 Carbon border tax (2/2) A carbon border adjustment tax involves a series of difficulties: a) If placed exclusively on the importer it is, by definition, a tax on import; b) The actual levels of emissions coming from the manufacturer in a third country are not considered unlike those on EU territory; c) Producers of "pots and pans" from a third country would have no interest to make the production processes more efficient since the burden is only on the importer and they could save money by using very "dirty" energy to compensate the EU carbon border tax; d) To demonstrate that this tax is necessary to protect life and health of humans, animals or the preservation of plants as well as exhaustible natural resources, appears complex and is only based on individual cases; e) Finally, a similar tax would never be exactly the same as that applied in the EU as the methodology will be different.

12 A Different Approach (1/2) Hyundai, Toyota, Mazda, Daihatsu, Ford, General Motors etc. have 3 things in common: 1) Have 4 wheels (at least most of them); 2) Have 1 engine (thermic or electric); 3) Conform to European emissions standards EURO. The proposal is to impose products, manufactured or imported in the EU territory, a standard, a benchmark on emissions that have been released at the time of manufacture, and to consider them as being part of the product, as a raw material contained in them. If Europe is destined to be a market, it has to be an intelligent market, one that rewards local and imported products, sharing the same values that Europe has auto-imposed.

13 A Different Approach (2/2) Harmonising the playing field for a fair industrial competition: In 2014, EU s electricity cost was over 30% more than that of China and 120% more than that of US. The loss of competitiveness in export towards these markets was respectively 48% and 192%. The industrial competition also strives to compete on the efficiency of industrial production processes. The adaptation of European standards from the industry outside the EU results in an immediate reduction in emissions globally. Recovering and strengthening the European industrial competitiveness. Neutral contribution: Higher VAT on higher CO 2 content goods to be offset by lower VAT on clean products. In 2014, a total of 528,399,500 allowances with an average price of 5.86 (spot and secondary market) was auctioned at EU level. Revenues were 3,096,421,070.

14 Charge on Emissions (1/2) Article II Schedules of Concessions Nothing in this Article shall prevent any contracting party from imposing at any time on the importation of any product: a) a charge equivalent to an internal tax imposed consistently with the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article III in respect of the like domestic product or in respect of an article from which the imported product has been manufactured or PRODUCED IN WHOLE OR IN PART; In a global economy, it makes no sense to have a territorial approach (either we move the factories or the production). The only way to limit emissions and to redirect the fuel mix for manufacturing output, is to trace emissions related to goods. To give value and monetise them. We could say that a carbon dioxide limit could be set only if Europe considers it a real output, a by-product associated with goods produced, as if it were contained in a shoe or kitchen pot. Alternatively, more correctly, as if the CO 2 produced during the process of fabricating a product became an intrinsic feature of the same product.

15 Support schemes for renewables and energy efficiency will became industrial investments Charge on Emissions (2/2) This approach involves a series of benefits: a) It will significantly help to globally lower emissions (emissions do not respect borders); b) It does not violate the WTO s rules (non discriminatory); c) A charge within the VAT would not be affected by a global economic crisis. (But it will continue to reward carbon free products); d) It will avoid all financial speculations on CO 2 ; e) It will boost renewables and energy efficiency, as well as R&D within EU and worldwide; f) Will ease EU s know how on emissions to spread out globally (regulatory, M&V, technology); g) Enhance employment in the sector of clean energy; h) Maintain & Strengthen the EU Leadership on climate change.

16 Profiling Goods Life Cycle Assessment The control must be straightforward, regardless of where the shoe is manufactured. It must have unknowns, almost "arithmetic" and not algebraic. (scarce unknowns and very few Raw Materials variables) Life Cycle Assessment, LCA can be an excellent starting point for quantifying the CO 2 in goods produced with appropriate efficient processes. In fact, the LCA is an analysis that "wants to prove too End much». Life Production Benchmarking, introduced by Directive 2009/29/EC. It becomes a key principle post 2012 of the EU ETS. Article 10b, paragraph 1, establishes that for each sector and sub-sector, the benchmarks must be calculated, where possible, for the final product rather than for the inputs. The European Commission is already trying to calculate the emissions per unit of a product, within manufactured products. Use Distribution

17 Charge on Emissions + Profiling Increasing the VAT on high carbon intensity products is a process that must meet some restrictions: 1. On one side, quantify (from a fiscal point of view) a cost per ton of CO 2 that is adequate to the environmental cost and, therefore, convenient for the producer to invest in making his plants more efficient and in the renewables; 2. On the other side, it must rebalance the added fiscal revenue related to highcarbon products, reducing at the same time the taxation for low-carbon products and avoiding the dreaded inflation; 3. At last, there must exist a linear and not discriminatory methodology to quantify the right amount of CO 2 present in goods produced by a specific factory. Who and how can verify the CO 2 emissions of non EU goods?

18 Emissions verification If a non- EU producer of goods is not responsible for his own emissions and doesn t pay the cost of them he is not incentivized to improve his plants efficiency and energy mix. To allow, all producers worldwide to demonstrate that their production is made with low emissions and also to give them an opportunity to avoid paying increased VAT. It is proposed an European accredited entity (or European-American) that accredits private companies for the verification and certification of all those producers who, on a voluntary basis, request this certification.

19 The Gross National Product counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country, it measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. And it can tell us everything about World except why we are proud that we are Humans. (Robert Kennedy) Agime Gerbeti