Planetary good governance after the Paris Agreement: The case for a global greenhouse gas tax

The Paris Agreement and the subsequent IPCC Global Warming of 1.5 °C report signal a need for greater urgency in achieving carbon emissions reductions. In this paper we make a two stage argument for greater use of carbon taxes and for a global approach to this. First, we argue that current modelling tends to lead to a “facts in waiting” approach to technology, which takes insufficient account of uncertainty. Rather than look to the future, carbon taxes that facilitate social redesign are something we have control over now. Second, we argue that the “trade” in “cap and trade” has been ineffective and carbon trading has served mainly as a distraction. Carbon taxes provide a simpler more flexible and pervasive alternative. We conclude with brief discussion of global context.