Could Further Taxation on Fossil Fuels Complicate the Climate Change Issue?

While the conversation on the current and future changes in the climate are far from over, the United Nations (UN) has convened its discussion on the issue this week until the 2015 General Assembly that will be held in Paris. And as some nations felt unheard in their pleas at the Climate Summit held last Tuesday Sept. 23 in New York City, they're turning up the heat on the global discourse looking for immediate solutions to the long-term problem.

Published this morning in the Dhaka Tribune, a largely syndicated news outlet in Bangladesh, some editorial staff with the support of smaller developing nations urged for global taxation to be implemented on fossil fuels.

"Bangladesh cannot afford to ignore the magnitude of the threat posed by climate change" authors of the editorial published in the Dhaka Tribune wrote. "We urgently need the world to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. The best way to do this is through taxing fossil fuels to reduce emissions and creating funds for investment in renewable alternatives."

"Unfortunately, the UN Climate Summit in New York this week did not provide any meaningful progress on the taxation of fossil fuels."

While the authors and nearly all of the nations in attendance at the UN General Assembly and Climate Summit realized the impending need for change in our global practices and need for alternative renewable sources of energy, what they fail to understand are the long-term repercussions for every plan that fails to address the actual issues.

While taxation may lead larger, industrialized nations to curb pollution and fossil fuel emissions, they'll likely come with a graver cost to the public. As gas prices have soared in recent years due to the increased duties placed on oil, the general public has shown a decreased interest in the call to action for change. Rather, it will be incentivized changes that will likely lead to a larger global shift away from our dependence on fossil fuels.

Programs such as the "Cash for Clunkers" program in 2009 proved successful in the short term by inducing the purchase of an additional 360,000 more fuel-efficient, greener vehicles, according to a study from the University of California Berkeley and the University of Chicago. And while it cost the US government a hefty price in the short run, it proved to help the global issue in far greater ways. Not only boosting employment and kick-starting the down economy at the time, the incentivized program led a green movement that allowed those interested in curbing their carbon footprint affordably make a great transition.

And though even more expensive programs, such as the United States' subsidized programs for installing solar panels on homes, are often weighted based on the price tag paid by the government, it will be these incremental changes and allowances made by each and every nation that will lead our world away from its dependence on fossil fuels. Rather than looking towards punishing the use of fossil fuels, world leaders will need to look towards methods of positive-reinforcement that will guide the masses towards more renewable forms of energy wherein every nation and every individual can contribute to the change.