Climate Policy → Climate Dividend → Dividend in detail → Endorsers → Support
The Climate Dividend
The policy that economists & citizens love
In 2 minutes
1) Put a price on carbon
Apply a fee of $50+ on oil, gas and oil producers for every ton of carbon that enters the Australian economy.
2) Share a dividend with Aussies
The wealth raised by the carbon price goes directly to Aussie households via their bank account, every month.
“The biggest thing we do is put in place a carbon price.”
Mike Cannon-Brookes,
CEO, Atlassian, 7th Nov 2018.
Policy features, put simply
One price on carbon
A rising fee on every tonne of carbon as it enters our economy.
Dividends for everyone!
Money raised is returned to Aussie households directly each month.
Border adjustments
To protect our businesses, carbon-intensive imports pay a carbon fee.
Simple regulation
Regulations and emissions subsidies can be simplified or removed.
FAQs
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A: Producers would pay a fee wherever carbon enters the economy, such as the mine, well, or port.
It would start at A$50 per ton of CO2 and increase from there. This approach is considered the fastest and most effective method by most economists globally.
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A: It would look like a simple monthly direct deposit.
Our tax office would be in charge of sending money to all eligible Aussies each month. You can use it to cover the cost of rising fossil fuel prices, or save money by buying low-carbon alternatives.
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A price is added at the border anytime a carbon intensive product enters our economy.
In Australia, exports to countries without a similar scheme would receive rebates. Imports would be charged fees based on the carbon content of their products.
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A: A climate dividend model means complex regulation isn’t needed.
There will still be regulations to keep Australians safe, just fewer of them. We’d also like to see the removal of fossil fuel subsidies, to keep things fair for innovators.
“We need to adequately price carbon in our economic decision making.”
Michael Chen, Executive Director,
Head of ESG at Westpac Institutional Bank
10 July 2019
Why we like it
It’s efficient, fair and engages every Australian in decarbonising our economy!
Efficiency
Putting a price on carbon is cheap and hard to corrupt.
Popularity
The dividend is revenue-neutral, so it doesn’t increase taxes.
Fairness
The average Aussie will be better off under the climate dividend.
Choice
Everyone can make choices about how they spend their dividend.
FAQs
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A well-designed carbon price is able to drive down emissions across the whole economy; it has a comprehensive impact. Most other policies are piecemeal as they only affect small parts the economy and take a lot more effort to implement and regulate.
A carbon price is also able to wind back the subsidies to fossil fuels which are keeping emissions rising and counteracting any benefits that flow from more piecemeal policies.
Some policies like emissions trading, subsidising technology, or paying firms to reduce their pollution, end up being more expensive to implement overall and are easier to corrupt.
This has been well established in economic theory for almost a century. In technical terms, the carbon dividend is a Pigovian tax on a negative externality. It incorporates all the social costs of carbon products into their price and drives consumption towards low and zero-carbon products.
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A: Yeah, you’re right, Aussies generally don’t like more taxes.
The climate dividend however works well because it directly shares the revenue with individuals, so most people can find something good to say about it.
Politicians can see that it has voter appeal.
In other countries where price and dividend were correctly implemented support has remained high.
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A: The average Aussie will be financially better off.
It’s really that simple. In the 2018 modelling by Holden and Dixon, at the University of NSW, the benefits were found to be the highest for households in the lowest income bracket. High-income households can also benefit from reducing their carbon emissions.
Businesses will also benefit from a clear market signal to guide them through the transition.
We like when things are fair in Australia 🇦🇺
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A: Carbon taxes go straight into general government revenue.
The climate dividend however goes straight into Australian pockets, which allows families to make decisions about where they spend. This boosts the economy.
Because the dividend doesn’t go into government coffers it doesn’t grow the size of government.
And it engages citizens in decarbonizing the economy.
