The Essential Energy Transition - Energy and Climate: How to Achieve a Successful Energy Transition - page 39

The cost related to protection of the environment must be included in
concrete terms in the production or consumption process. This means that
the polluter (whether an individual or a company), must pay a cost
equivalent to that required to remedy the pollution caused.
Until now, the atmosphere has been considered as free common
property. As a result, considerable quantities of greenhouse gas have
been discharged until quite recently with no penalty. To limit these
discharges, it is essential to create a mechanism, for a group of countries
and eventually at global level, aimed at capping CO 2 emissions or limiting
these emissions by setting up a taxation system.
Generalisation of a tax on fossil energies, related directly to CO 2
emissions, is frequently mentioned [32]. This type of tax is neither easy
to establish nor popular. It nevertheless remains clear that a statutory
mechanism is required to levy the additional costs incurred in order to
protect the environment.
The 'compensation' principle is more andmore frequently put forward.
Under this principle, the 'carbon neutrality' of an activity responsible
for CO 2 emissions is guaranteed by financing, through an approved
organisation, a compensatory action leading to an equivalent reduction
of CO 2 emissions somewhere else on the planet. It is therefore possible
to 'compensate' for the CO 2 emissions caused by an air trip.
The principle of this mechanism is not fundamentally different from
that implemented in the emissions trading scheme, described inChapter 3.
Although currently applied on a voluntary basis only, it offers the
advantage of involving all sectors, including those outside the current
emissions trading scheme, and especially transport.
The European Union has an important role to play in this area.
By setting up governance across the 27 member countries, it can demon-
strate that this system is feasible. Provided that other parts of the world
(NorthAmerica, Asia-Pacific) set up similar systems, its extension to every
country of the world could become effective through a scheme managed
by the United Nations.
Even though it is difficult to reach an international agreement, ratifica-
tion of the Kyoto Protocol represents a highly encouraging step. In the
past, similar international agreements have been signed, especially to ban
the chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) compounds used as propellants in aerosols
which threatened the ozone layer (see Chapter 2). In 1987, the Montreal
Protocol opened the way to halting the emission of substances depleting
the ozone layer. Since then, the statutory measures have been reinforced
and, in 1996, the start of a decrease in atmospheric CFC content was
observed [7].