Carbon leakage is what happens when government carbon policy causes emissions to be displaced to another jurisdiction.
If Canada puts a price on carbon, it could reduce emissions and provide taxes that could be reinvested into innovative new technologies that could replace the lost energy and grow the economy. This would leave Canada with a “double dividend” of reduced emissions and economic improvement.
But if instead other nations respond to reductions in Canadian production of natural gas by producing more themselves, then our jobs and prosperity could leak over the border while global emissions increase, especially if the extra emissions are more carbon intensive in other countries, leaving us in a “green paradox.”
If we agree that Canada should be a global leader and do more than its share on climate change we need to think globally. Canadians are the best in the world in many areas and enjoy comparative advantages in carbon that can help the planet.
So what’s going to happen? Will Canada reap a “double dividend,” suffer with a “green paradox,” or will we land somewhere in between?
Counter-Point: Carbon taxes shift jobs out of Canada and increase emissions in other countries.
Reversing carbon leakage by attracting high-emission offshore production in areas where Canada is a lower-emissions producer will generate a double dividend of new economic benefits and lower global emissions.
https://c2cjournal.ca/2019/05/think-globally-act-profitably/
Title: Comparing policies to combat emissions leakage: Border carbon adjustments versus rebates Author: Carolyn Fischer and Alan K. Fox Publisher: Journal of Environmental Economics and Management Date: September 2012 Full Text Article Summary: In 2012, 67 percent of the energy consumed in Quebec was consumed by industrial, commercial, and institutional users. Ho
Title: The Layered Costs of Government Policies Author: Calgary Chamber Publisher: Calgary Chamber of Commerce Date: December 14, 2017 Full Text Article Summary: The Calgary Chamber of Commerce finds that “Minimum wage increases, rising municipal property taxes, carbon taxes, new labour code reforms, increasing personal and corporate income taxes, greater future Canadian Pension Plan contributions, and
Author: Business Council of BC Publisher: Business Council of BC Date: August 24th, 2018 Full Text Article Summary: B.C.’s adoption of more ambitious GHG emission reduction targets is problematic. The province failed to reach the previous 2020 target. Extending the timeline and roughly doubling the legislated reduction goal does not render
Title: Canada’s Climate Action Plans: Are They Cost-effective? Author: Kenneth P. Green Publisher: Fraser Institute Date: November 16, 2017 Full Text Article Summary: Climate policy across Canada has been characterized by inefficient spending, over-regulation, rejection of market principles, and ineffective attempts to transition to renewables, culminating in large costs to taxpayers and little environmental
Title: Energy Costs and Canadian Households Author: Kenneth P. Green, Taylor Jackson, Ian Herzog, Milagros Palacios Publisher: Fraser Institute Date: March 2016 Full Text Article Summary: The Fraser Institute finds that a growing number of Canadians are experiencing “energy poverty,” defined by “devoting more than 10% of total expenditures to energy” (electricity, natural gas,
Title: The Impact of the Federal Carbon Tax on the Competitiveness of Canadian Industries Author: Ross McKitrick, Elmira Aliakbari, Ashley Stedman Publisher: Fraser Institute Date: August 22nd, 2019 Full Text Article Summary: With Canada’s federal carbon tax set to reach $50 per tonne in 2022 it is often argued that Canadian
Title: CARBON TAXES: ARE THE POLICIES OF OTTAWA AND THE PROVINCES EFFICIENT? Author: Dr. Germain Belzile Publisher: Montreal Economic Institute Date: July 2019 Full Article Here Summary: There are certain consensuses in the economic literature regarding the best policies that aim to reduce emissions of a given pollutant. We identified three conditions, in particular,
Title: Don’t link climate change to increasing costs of disasters Author: Bjorn Lomborg Publisher: Hindustan Times Date: Sept. 8, 2017 Full Text Article Summary: To reduce the human costs of natural disasters, governments should focus on poverty reduction and strategic urban planning rather than carbon cuts.
Title: The Carbon Market: Chasing Away Job s and Capital Without Reducing GHGs Author: Germain Belzile and Mark Milke Publisher: MEI: Ideas for a More Prosperous Society Date: June 2018 Full Text Article Summary: A carbon market, like a carbon tax, aims to modify behaviors in order to reduce GHG emissions by settinga price
Title: Trade is the lifeblood of our prosperity – that is why we must protect it Publisher: Resource Works Date: September 19, 2017 Full Text Article Summary: Carbon pricing in BC may do more harm than good, hurting trade-dependent Canadian industries and increasing carbon leakage to other jurisdictions. Increased production costs may drive resource
Title: Carbon Pricing In Alberta Author: Robert P. Murphy Publisher: The Frasier Institute Date: February 27th, 2019 Full Text Article Summary: Supplemental goals undercut the logic of carbon pricing, in which policymakers use a carbon tax to correct incentives and then allow the market to find the least-cost methods of reducing emissions. Another problem
Title: Carbon Tax – Flawed Implementation Across Canada Author: Kenneth P. Green Publisher: Fraser Institute Date: May 5, 2017 Full Text Article Summary: The Fraser Institute examines carbon taxes across the country and finds that they are questionable both in impact and implementation, with revenues often being spent on government projects of dubious value:
Title: Think Global, Act Profitable Author: Michael Binnion Publisher: C2C Journal Date: May 13th, 2019 Full Text Article Summary: We already have some of the world’s toughest emissions standards and practices in numerous areas of manufacturing, processing and resource extraction, delivering very high rates of productivity per unit of greenhouse gas emissions. This points
Title: Trans Mountain Pipeline ULC – Trans Mountain Expansion Project Review of Related Upstream Greenhouse Gas Emissions Estimates Author: Environment and Climate Change Canada Date: May 19, 2016 Full Text Article Summary: This document provides an estimate of the upstream greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) associated withthe transportation capacity on the Trans Mountain Expansion
Title: We Need Common Sense Climate Policy Author: Michael Binnion Publisher: Policy Options Politiques Date: April 3, 2018 Full Text Article Summary: The world has always been able to count on Canada to punch above its weight on issues of global concern, including the potential impacts of climate change. However, doing the right things
Title: Canada’s Oil and Gas Sector at Risk? How Excessive Taxes and Regulations Undermine Our Competitiveness Author: Germain Belzile Publisher: Montreal Economic Institute Date: October 2017 Full Text Article Summary: Germain Belzile discusses how over-regulation is making Canada’s energy industry less competitive, especially when compared to the United States. To counteract this, he recommends
Title: Strategic Energy Management for Businesses in Quebec Author: Johanne Whitmore and Pierre-Olivier Pineau (Executive Summary) Publisher: Conference Board of Canada Date: October 2015 Full Text Article Summary: In 2012, 67 percent of the energy consumed in Quebec was consumed by industrial, commercial, and institutional users.
Title: Strategic Energy Management for Businesses in Quebec Author: Johanne Whitmore and Pierre-Olivier Pineau (Executive Summary) Publisher: Conference Board of Canada Date: October 2015 Full Text Article Summary: We explore conditions determining which anti-leakage policies might be more effective complements to domestic greenhouse gas emissions regulation. We consider four policies that could be combined with
Title: Global Petroleum Survey 2017 Author: Ashley Stedman & Kenneth P. Green Publisher: Fraser Institute Date: November 28, 2017 Full Text Article Summary: The Fraser Institute’s annual survey compares the attractiveness of various jurisdictions for investment in energy development.
Title: You Asked For It? – Is Canada’s oil and gas industry subsidized billions? Author: Jeff Dowes Publisher: Canadian Taxpayers Federation Date: Fall 2017 Full Article Here Summary: Jeff Dowes from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation explains the subsidies received by the oil and gas industry. He shows that the stats cited by activists groups
Title: Canada’s Carbon Leak Problem Author: Michael Binnion Publisher: Policy Options Date: February 1, 2017 Full Text Article Summary: Most people I talk to have never heard of carbon leaks, which is when carbon policy causes emissions to be displaced to another jurisdiction. Yet the recent election in the United States heightens the importance
Title: Carbon Leakage – a vacuum more than a leak Author: Peter Boag Publisher: Canadian Fuels Association Date: June 13, 2017 Full Text Article Summary: “The announced withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Accord highlights the carbon ‘leakage’ risks from aggressive Canadian GHG reduction policies that don’t take into account the integrated
Title: The Cost of a Cleaner Future Author: Len Coad, Robyn Gibbard, Alicia Macdonald, and Matthew Stewart Publisher: Conference Board of Canada Date: September 6, 2017 Full Text Article Summary: This analysis studies three distinct policy measures—the impact of a carbon price and a shift in the electricity generation mix, the impact of substantially decarbonizing our electricity
Author: Authors: Dinara Millington, Nurul Hossain, Anna Vypovska, Kiana Goddard, Mateo Sanin Publisher: Canadian Energy Research Institute Date: August 5th, 2020 Full Text Article Summary: The Canadian Energy Research Institute took a look into different carbon pricing mechanisms. They found that the carbon taxes in B.C. and Alberta did not have the intended
Title: Reversing Carbon Leakage In The Aluminum Sector Author: Mikela Hein, Jotham Peters Publisher: Navius Research Date: March, 2019 Full Text Article Summary: Canada has competitive advantages in its sectors when it comes to greenhouse gas and CO2 emissions. When Canada’s production is displaced due to policy, domestic greenhouse gas emissions decrease while global
Title: High Cost Fuel Standard Publisher: Canadian Energy Network Date: October 2020 Full analysis here: High Cost Fuel Standard Summary: In 2016, the Federal Liberal government set in motion the proposal for a “Clean Fuel Standard”, which in fact will be a High Cost Fuel Standard, with a stated goal to reduce fuel
Title: Carbon Tax Experiment is a Danger to New Brunswick Author: Marco Navarro-Génie Publisher: Atlantic Institute for Market Studies Date: March 23, 2018 Full Text Article Summary: While good intentions matter a great deal, results matter most. The federal decision to impose a national carbon tax policy may be well-intentioned, but its effects may
Title: Tipping the Scales: Assessing Carbon Competitiveness and Leakage Potential for Canada’s EITEIs Author : Carlos A. Murillo Publisher: Conference Board of Canada Date: November 4th, 2019 Full Text Article Summary: Tipping the Scales: Assessing Carbon Competitiveness and Leakage Potential for Canada’s Energy Intensive And Trade Exposed Industries(EITEI) provides glaring evidence that significant risks
