How Much Carbon Pricing Is in Countries’ Own Interests? The Critical Role of Co-Benefits

This paper calculates, for the top 20 emitting countries, how much pricing of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions would be in their own national interests due to domestic co-benefits (leaving aside the global climate benefits). On average, second-best domestic prices are substantial, $57.5 per ton of CO 2 (for year 2010), reflecting primarily health co-benefits from reduced air pollution at coal plants and, in some cases, reductions in automobile externalities net of fuel taxes/subsidies. Pricing co-benefits reduces CO 2 emissions from the top 20 emitters by 13.5%. However, co-benefits vary dramatically across countries (e.g., with population exposure to pollution) and differentiated pricing of CO 2 emissions therefore yields higher net benefits (by 23%) than uniform pricing. Importantly, the efficiency case for pricing carbon’s co-benefits hinges critically on weak prospects (for the foreseeable future) for comprehensive internalization of other externalities through other (more efficient) pricing instruments.