By Greentech Lead Team: South Africa is planning to
introduce its own price on carbon next year.
According to the Treasury, South Africa plans to
introduce a carbon tax on annual emissions for all the industrial sectors
responsible for greenhouse gas emissions, including electricity, petroleum,
iron, steel and aluminium to reduce greenhouse gases.
South Africa was the host of last year’s climate talks at
Durban that yielded the first international agreement to put a price on
greenhouse gases to be worked out by 2015 and operational by 2020.
With around 500-million tons of greenhouse gases emitted
yearly, the country ranks third in the world on a total emissions per capita
basis. It is one of the BASIC nations (Brazil, South Africa, India and China)
responsible for most new greenhouse gas pollution.
South Africa’s draft policy of a carbon tax would be
published later this year. In the South African plan every industrial sector
that pollutes will be covered from the start, according to a report in
Greenprophet.com.
To slow the impact of the new tax, it would initially be
required for only one third of each company’s emissions, starting in 2013. Then
gradually, over the next 7 years, the amount would be increased by 10 percent a
year until 2020.
For emissions above the capped amount, companies would
pay a carbon tax on each ton of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) of 120 rand or
about $US 16.
But all industrial sectors except electric power
production would also be able to claim additional relief of at least another 10
percent. That is because in South Africa, nearly all electricity is supplied by
a monopoly coal power company, Eskom, so heavy industries have no options to
switch to cleaner electricity sources like wind or solar to cut their
emissions.