this is a strong argument thats been waiting to be had for a long time now. can govts steer their countries to net zero? should govts direct business to reduce emissions?
a carbon price is the recommended means of achieving this but Abbott abolished the carbon price 10 years ago. this was a big mistake.
The OECD (link). says 20 countries have carbon pricing in place. the research study cited below has different results.
Currently, 30 carbon taxes and 31 ETSs have been implemented globally, covering approximately 22% of worldwide emissions (World Bank, 2020). However, the effectiveness of carbon-pricing policies in reducing carbon emissions remains a matter of debate and requires further investigation. There is a lack of consensus on the effectiveness of carbon-pricing policies in reducing carbon emissions and a relative paucity of studies examining the comparative effectiveness of specific carbon-pricing mechanisms such as ETSs and carbon taxes (Döbbeling-Hildebrandt et al., 2024). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0959652624032104
but the Aus carbon price caused a 10% reduction in GHG emissions, those emissions that were accounted for were direct emissions from production of goods/services (Scope 1 emissions only). the emissions rose again after Abbott abolished the CP.
I recognise others, including your good self, will challenge this as unnecessary. yet GW is the primary reason for reducing emissions and so its necessary to encourage business and householders to reduce our emissions.
global emissions have continued to rise. so yeh, its unlikely we will see net zero by 2050. we need, as a world of intelligent people, to address the risks we face with continuing emissions and recognise that we need to make better concerted efforts. \
