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Carbon Scores: how does your country stack up?

Ummul Ruthbah and Roger Cohen

Updated: Nov 4, 2021

What is better - a high carbon price that covers a low proportion of a country's emissions, or a low price covering a high proportion of emissions?


Self evidently, a high carbon price covering a high proportion of emissions would be ideal. But there are not many (if any) countries that can claim this yet.


To rank the overall effectiveness of different carbon pricing schemes, our research team created the Monash/C2Zero Real Carbon Price Index (RCPI) Carbon Score. The score takes into account both the coverage of individual schemes and their pricing, with a target price of US$75 per tonne of CO2e applied.



The US$75 target was chosen because it is the midpoint of the US$50-100 range suggested by the High-Level Commission on Carbon Prices (2017), and it is also the target price mooted by the International Monetary Fund for the carbon price by 2030 to keep global warming under control.


A score of 1 or more would mean a country or region is covering 100 per cent of its emissions as a price of US$75 or more.


Based on current international scientific advice, an RCPI Carbon Score of 1 or more by 2030 is required for the world to have a sustainable existence. Currently, the world score is a shameful 0.059, with only 20.1% of global emissions covered by carbon prices, and prices averaging just US$22. These figures translate to the world being just below 6 per cent of the way towards meeting sustainability targets for 2030.


The chart below ranks countries and regions according to their RCPI Carbon Scores. Even countries leading the charge - Sweden at 0.74, Norway at 0.59, and Switzerland at 0.47 - have a long way to go to get to the sustainable target score of 1.


Laggard countries with no mandatory carbon pricing - including Australia, India, Russia, and Saudi Arabia - don't even make the chart. We can only hope they make a start before it is too late.



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©2024 by Real Carbon Price Index.

Disclaimer: This information has been prepared for research and informational purposes only. Results presented are derived using available data from various public and proprietary sources. The accuracy of this data cannot be guaranteed and it may not be complete Whilst all care has been taken, because of the nature of the aforementioned data and assumptions and approximations in the underlying methodologies, there may be limitations to the accuracy of some results, No liability is taken for any consequences related to the use of this data and any other information herein. Furthermore, this is provided as general information only and does not constitute financial or any other form of advice or recommendation. It does not take into account any person’s objectives, financial situation or needs. Users should consider the appropriateness of the information as it relates to their particular circumstances.

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