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The Price of Carbon
Economy & Business

The Price of Carbon

Why Carbon Pricing Is the Most Efficient Tool for Fighting Climate Change — and Why It's So Hard to Implement

Nicholas Stern

Economist at the London School of Economics, specializing in climate change economics. He is the author of the "Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change."

March 7, 2026·8 min read

The Price of Carbon

Economists have long argued that putting a price on carbon emissions is the most efficient way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon pricing creates incentives for businesses and consumers to reduce emissions without mandating specific technologies. Yet carbon pricing has been politically difficult to implement, and where it has been implemented, the prices are often too low to drive the necessary reductions.

TOPICS
carbon pricingclimate changeeconomicspolicyenvironment
FURTHER READING
World Bank: Carbon Pricing
World Bank
IMF: Carbon Tax
IMF
IPCC: Mitigation Economics
IPCC
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