China to impose green tax on heavy polluters
Categories: Regulations and Policies
Tags: china, tax
China to impose green tax on heavy polluters
China is to impose an environmental tax on heavy polluters under an ambitious clean-up strategy being finalized in Beijing, according to experts familiar with the programme. The tax will be included alongside the world’s most ambitious renewable energy scheme and fresh efforts to fight smog when the government unveils the biggest, greenest five-year plan in the country’s modern history in March 2011.
The environmental tax – which will levy fees according to discharges of sulphur dioxide, sewage and other contaminants – is meant as a disincentive for polluting industries, many of which have flocked to China to take advantage of low costs and weak regulations. The tax is “likely to be levied nationwide, but there is also a possibility that it will initially be introduced in selected regions,” said Mr. Ma Zhong, Director of the School of Environment & National Resources at Renmin University in Beijing. Jianxi province has already applied to host a project.
Domestic media say the tax could come into force in 2013. Carbon dioxide, a key concern given China’s status as the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter, may be included in the system later, though the issue is being debated. The revenues would go to the central government, but the main aim of the new system is act as a disincentive to polluters. “In the early phase, the objective of this tax is to change behaviour rather than to raise money,” Mr. Ma stated. The main impact is likely to be felt by the energy sector as well as emission-intensive industries, such as steel, cement and chemicals.
