The Platform for Collaboration on Tax Releases New Report on Carbon Pricing Metrics

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Washington, D.C. – September 8, 2023 – The Platform for Collaboration on Tax (PCT) – a joint initiative of the IMF, OECD, UN and World Bank Group – released a new report on carbon metrics of its partners. The report aims to help policymakers, businesses and other stakeholders strengthen their understanding of different carbon pricing metrics of the four largest international organizations.

Carbon pricing has emerged as the policy strategy to monetize the cost of the emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, such as the damage caused by climate change. In the last decade, international organizations have developed diverse metrics on carbon pricing. The PCT’s new report, “Carbon Pricing Metrics: Analyzing Existing Tools and Databases of Platform for Collaboration on Tax (PCT) Partners,” showcases this rich array of approaches of the PCT Partners (the IMF, OECD, UN and the World Bank Group) and provides a comparison of various metrics, including other carbon pricing metrics. The study shows that the existing metrics of the PCT Partners complement each other and give a comprehensive picture of the carbon pricing landscape. According to the report, the PCT Partners concur on a crucial message: Energy prices are poorly aligned with climate, environmental and health costs. Carbon pricing signals to date are insufficient.

This report was prepared under the PCT’s environmental taxation/climate and tax workstream, which brings together experts from the four international organizations. Following the release of the report, the PCT Partners will hold a launch event in September 2023 with expert speakers, who will discuss the key takeaways from the report.

French and Spanish versions of the report will be forthcoming. For questions and comments, please contact the PCT Secretariat at taxcollaborationplatform@worldbank.org