France to implement carbon tax

A street in FranceFrance will implement a nation-wide carbon tax to prevent global warming. The new tax, to be implemented next year, will be applied to cover the use of oil, gas and coal.

President Nicolas Sarkozy said 17 Euros per ton of emitted carbon dioxide will be placed on the consumption of oil, gas, and coal, but not electricity. Eighty per cent of France's electricity is generated by nuclear power.

While households and businesses will come under the ambit of tax regime, heavy industries and power firms included in the EU's emissions trading scheme will be exempted.

Socialist party and two thirds of French voters are already opposed to the tax proposal. However, Sarkozy said revenues earned from the carbon tax will really benefit French consumers because of cuts in other taxes.

Organisations like Greenpeace France are of the opinion that the tax is too low and should include electricity.

Leading French newspaper Le Monde has reported that the new tax will cover as much as 70 per cent of France's carbon emissions and bring in about 4.3 billion euros of revenue every year.

Sweden has the highest carbon tax in Europe, 100 Euros (145 dollars) per ton of consumption.