Eine CO2-Abgabe mit Rückerstattung hilft dem Klimaschutz und ist sozial gerecht

Abstract

Der Ruf nach einer CO2-Bepreisung wird international lauter, da CO2-Emissionen damit effektiv gesenkt werden können. Allerdings ist die klimapolitische Maßnahme auch umstritten, da sie angeblich Personen mit niedrigem Einkommen zu stark belastet. Das Schweizer Modell zeigt, dass Geringverdienende von einer CO2 -Abgabe profitieren ‐ dank Rückerstattung.A carbon tax is an effective instrument for reducing industrial and household carbon emissions. Some, however, put forward the objection that taxing CO2 is a greater burden for lower-class households than for affluent household. Revenue redistribution to taxpayers compensates for the negative distributional effects of a carbon tax. In 2008, Switzerland introduced a CO2 levy on heating-related fossil fuel use. The levy was raised to 96 Swiss francs (87 Euro) per ton CO2. Two thirds of the revenues are redistributed to residents while one third is spent on building renovations and technological innovations. In the current study, we investigated the distributional effects of a hypothetical CO2 levy with redistribution on all products and services. We calculated individual carbon footprints based on survey data from Swiss households. As expected, the carbon footprint distribution was strongly skewed to the right. We report correlations of carbon footprints with income and estimate the proportion of the population that stands to gain from a CO2 levy with redistribution. The results show that, in addition to mitigating climate change, this policy will prove beneficial for a large majority of the population.