{
  "title": "IMF Survey : Policymakers Face Historic Opportunity to Fight Climate Change",
  "publication": "IMF News, October 10, 2015",
  "sourceUrl": "https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2015/09/28/04/53/sonew101015a",
  "canonical": "https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2015/09/28/04/53/sonew101015a",
  "overlayPath": "/en/news/articles/2015/09/28/04/53/sonew101015a/index.md",
  "summary": "Governments should seize the opportunity afforded by low oil prices to move forward with combating climate change by setting a price on carbon emissions and eliminating energy subsidies, panelists said at a seminar.",
  "authors": [
    "Maureen Burke October"
  ],
  "publishDate": "2015-10-10",
  "sections": [
    {
      "heading": "Overview",
      "content": "- Seminar at the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in Lima, Peru convened climate experts and international organization representatives to discuss policy responses to climate change.\n- Central message: low fossil fuel prices create a policy window to introduce carbon pricing and eliminate energy subsidies, generating revenue and discouraging energy consumption."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Key findings",
      "content": "- Energy price context:\n  - \"A 50 percent drop in fossil fuel energy prices in a little over a year\" creates an opportunity to implement climate measures.\n- Carbon pricing and subsidy reform outcomes:\n  - British Columbia introduced a revenue-neutral carbon tax in 2008, starting at \"$10 a ton and gradually raising it.\"\n  - Result reported for British Columbia: \"reduced its consumption of all fuel types by 16 percent\" while \"across Canada it rose by 3 percent.\"\n- Access and equity:\n  - \"In India, for example, about 40 percent of the population doesn’t have access to electricity.\"\n  - \"The top twenty emitting countries are responsible for roughly 90 percent of global emissions.\"\n- International pledges:\n  - Advanced economies have pledged to channel \"$100 billion a year to the developing world for this purpose starting in 2020.\""
    },
    {
      "heading": "Evidence and country examples",
      "content": "- British Columbia carbon tax:\n  - Implemented 2008, revenue-neutral, began at \"$10 a ton,\" raised gradually.\n  - Associated outcomes: \"reduced its consumption of all fuel types by 16 percent\" and the province's economy \"grew faster than the rest of Canada.\"\n- India perspective:\n  - Energy access framed as life-or-death; climate measures perceived differently where \"about 40 percent of the population doesn’t have access to electricity.\"\n  - Political economy challenge: perception that developing countries \"had nothing to do with the problem.\""
    },
    {
      "heading": "Equity, financing, and international cooperation",
      "content": "- Equity concern emphasized: historical responsibility and moral obligation—\"a subset of countries that have caused this historically and that therefore have the moral responsibility to help developing countries.\"\n- Financing challenge:\n  - Need for a coherent global system for climate financing; existing pledge: \"$100 billion a year ... starting in 2020.\"\n  - Panelists stressed revenue from carbon pricing and subsidy reform should be used to:\n    - \"drive infrastructure change,\"\n    - \"advance technology change,\"\n    - \"share the sorts of breakthroughs needed to bring energy security to people in the developing world.\"\n- Free rider problem and policy heterogeneity:\n  - Risk of \"a ludicrous mosaic of fundamentally different policies\" and countries worrying \"that their neighbor isn’t doing enough.\""
    },
    {
      "heading": "Policy recommendations and strategic priorities",
      "content": "- Seize low-price window:\n  - Introduce a carbon tax or emissions trading scheme while energy prices are low to make price increases more palatable.\n  - Eliminate energy subsidies during the low-price period.\n- Design and communication:\n  - Set a carbon price equal to the cost of the \"externality\" (damage from climate change) to internalize climate costs.\n  - Raise public awareness continuously to build political support for carbon pricing.\n- Use revenue wisely:\n  - Recycle revenues to reduce more harmful taxes, finance mitigation/adaptation, and promote sustainable development objectives.\n- Country-specific approaches:\n  - Tailor emissions reduction pathways to each country’s circumstances while pursuing \"common objectives that are achieved in a modestly fair way.\""
    },
    {
      "heading": "Timing and urgency",
      "content": "- Time sensitivity:\n  - Consensus that \"time is of the essence\"; the global community \"didn’t have the luxury of holding out for the perfect global system.\"\n  - Recommendation: pursue pragmatic international agreement on shared objectives ahead of the Paris Summit (COP21).\n\nSource: IMF Survey : Policymakers Face Historic Opportunity to Fight Climate Change (October 10, 2015).\n\n---\n\n Content in this bundle\n\n- New101015aapdf (PDF){rel=\"external\" type=\"application/pdf\"}\n\n---\n\n References\n\n- https://www.imf.org/en/News/country-focus\n- PRESS CENTER\n- In The News\n- Watch Part 1 of seminar\n- Watch Part 2 of seminar\n- Read the research\n- Read the blog\n- https://www.imf.org/en/home\n\nSource: https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2015/09/28/04/53/sonew101015a"
    }
  ],
  "bullets": [
    "[Markdown version](/en/news/articles/2015/09/28/04/53/sonew101015a/index.md)",
    "[Structured JSON version](/en/news/articles/2015/09/28/04/53/sonew101015a/index.json)",
    "[Bundle manifest](/en/news/articles/2015/09/28/04/53/sonew101015a/bundle-manifest.json)",
    "Authors: Maureen Burke October",
    "Published: October 10, 2015",
    "Seminar at the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in Lima, Peru convened climate experts and international organization representatives to discuss policy responses to climate change.",
    "Central message: low fossil fuel prices create a policy window to introduce carbon pricing and eliminate energy subsidies, generating revenue and discouraging energy consumption.",
    "Energy price context:",
    "Carbon pricing and subsidy reform outcomes:",
    "Access and equity:",
    "International pledges:",
    "British Columbia carbon tax:",
    "India perspective:",
    "Equity concern emphasized: historical responsibility and moral obligation—\"a subset of countries that have caused this historically and that therefore have the moral responsibility to help developing countries.\"",
    "Financing challenge:",
    "Free rider problem and policy heterogeneity:",
    "Seize low-price window:",
    "Design and communication:",
    "Use revenue wisely:",
    "Country-specific approaches:",
    "Time sensitivity:",
    "[New101015aapdf (PDF)](/-/media/websites/imf/imported/external/arabic/pubs/ft/survey/so/2015/new101015aapdf.pdf){rel=\"external\" type=\"application/pdf\"}",
    "[https://www.imf.org/en/News/country-focus](https://www.imf.org/en/News/country-focus)",
    "[PRESS CENTER](http://presscenter.imf.org/)",
    "[In The News](https://www.imf.org/en/news/search)",
    "[Watch Part 1 of seminar](http://www.imf.org/external/am/2015/mmedia/view.aspx?vid=4542988823001)",
    "[Watch Part 2 of seminar](http://www.imf.org/external/am/2015/mmedia/view.aspx?vid=4541004294001)",
    "[Read the research](http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/2015/new070215a.htm)",
    "[Read the blog](http://blog-imfdirect.imf.org/2015/05/18/global-energy-subsidies-are-big-about-us5-trillion-big/)",
    "[https://www.imf.org/en/home](https://www.imf.org/en/home)"
  ],
  "related": [
    {
      "title": "New101015aapdf",
      "role": "document",
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.imf.org/-/media/websites/imf/imported/external/arabic/pubs/ft/survey/so/2015/new101015aapdf.pdf",
      "binary": {
        "path": "/-/media/websites/imf/imported/external/arabic/pubs/ft/survey/so/2015/new101015aapdf.pdf",
        "mime": "application/pdf"
      }
    }
  ],
  "alternates": {
    "markdown": "/en/news/articles/2015/09/28/04/53/sonew101015a/index.md",
    "json": "/en/news/articles/2015/09/28/04/53/sonew101015a/index.json",
    "bundleManifest": "/en/news/articles/2015/09/28/04/53/sonew101015a/bundle-manifest.json"
  },
  "generatedAtUtc": "2026-09-27T08:22:03.924Z"
}