L'effet de serre, la forêt, l'agriculture

Abstract

Given the countries that had not signed the Kyoto Protocol but will significantly increase their emissions of greenhouse gases, Yves Martin was, in 2002, pessimistic about reaching the objectives set under the agreement for 2012. By 2007, he was skeptical about defining a priori a formula for fairly distributing emission targets among countries. The 2009 Copenhagen Conference proved him right...He also had reservations about a system of tradeable permits for greenhouse gases, since it would be hard to control and subject to strong speculation. Instead, he incessantly argued for a worldwide carbon tax. Its effectiveness would mainly depend on how progressive it would be and on how foreseeable the adjustment of its rates would be, with steady increases to a high level in the long run. Such a tax would send a signal about prices and motivate all parties to change behaviors related to both consumption and production. For Yves Martin, a carbon tax would allow for economic development since it makes it possible to:formulate a response to social issues. As a counterpart to the consequent price hikes in fossil fuels, he advocated lowering the TVA for certain products and reducing the Social Security taxes withheld on wages. In an article written with Michel Rocard, he pointed out that wages account for 38% of the Social Security budget as compared with 3,5% from fossil fuels.improve competitiveness, under condition that the WTO adopt measures for compensating firms in the lands that promise to reduce emissions.develop materials or processes (for instance, the timber industry) that emit less greenhouse gas.Yves Martin made two observations about the French forest: the harvest of wood has more or less stagnated in recent decades, and the average price of the wood harvested has been cut in three or even four over the last thirty years. Establishing a carbon tax on fossil fuels would lead to a new equilibrium in favor of wood by increasing both the consumption of this material and, concomitantly, its price. This would have a positive impact on the environment, since timber sustainably stocks CO2 like a well-managed forest. A carbon tax would thus be profitable to French forests while reducing the budget deficit (by scaling back expenditures for the fight against greenhouse gases) and lowering unemployment (by decreasing wage taxes).