The Sightline Institute has a useful database on when various countries started pricing carbon, what the price on carbon is, and how much of each region's GHG emissions are covered by the carbon pricing system. A close look at the data reveals some interesting findings. Costa Rica brought in carbon taxation during 1997 and the tax (US$1-14/ton in 2014) covers 85 percent of the country's emissions. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UN-FCCC) database only contains four years of emissions data for this nation (1990, 1996, 2000, and 2005). Is the tax reducing emissions? Certainly not. From 1996 to 2005, Costa Rica's carbon dioxide emissions increased by more than 31 percent, with an increase of 17 percent from 2000 to 2005. We have no data since 2005, which seems problematic for a nation that claims to be concerned about climate change. New Zealand implemented a carbon tax (US$2/ton in 2014) in 2008 which covers half of its emissions. From...(Read Full Post)