Incentives to lower pollution can still benefit economy

This is the first of a two-part series on incentives geared towards reducing greenhouse gases in T&T, jointly written by six students of the University of the West Indies—Mathew Edwards, Saleem Abdul Aziz, Marsilio Mohammed, Keenan Ramnath, Darrel Lutchman, Avinda Bhairosingh and Faria Ramjohn.

“It is often been said that our quest for wealth has time and again generated much of the pollution that plagues our society and contributes to general degradation of our natural environment. “Living in a way that is less damaging to the Earth is not easy, but it is vital, because pollution is pervasive and often life-threatening,” says Dr Azad Mohammed, UWI lecturer and eco-toxicologist. Necessity is the mother of all inventions. This popular quote, originating from Plato, a renowned Greek philosopher, can be applied to the global crisis with which we are confronted today.

Trinidad and Tobago, like many other nations around the world, is beginning to experience the myriad of adversities arising out of global warming, a phenomenon primarily generated by the release of harmful greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. A host of undesirable effects have been linked to greenhouse gas emissions, including but not confined to threatening human health, destroying the environment, upsetting the fragile balance of the ecosystem and interfering with weather and climate patterns.

Therefore, a reduction in these greenhouse gas emissions can be deemed a necessity, and an answer to that need may very well lie within the simple concept of economic incentives: initiatives that are geared towards lessening emissions from anthropogenic sources without compromising the economy which it sustains. The topic of global warming and climate change has been one riddled with controversy, doubt and uncertainty. The main controversy has stemmed from the contrasting views of the economist and environmentalist perspectives.

While some studies claim that the cumulative effects of anthropogenic sources of GHG emissions are negligible, there is astounding evidence to prove otherwise. This is aptly reflected in a statement extracted from a speech regarding the climate crisis, given by the 45th Vice President of the United States, Al Gore “There are many who still do not believe that global warming is a problem at all. And it's no wonder: because they are the targets of a massive and well-organized campaign of disinformation lavishly funded by polluters who are determined to prevent any action to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming out of a fear that their profits might be affected if they had to stop dumping so much pollution into the atmosphere.”

The main challenge that Trinidad and Tobago faces as a country whose economy is heavily reliant on hydrocarbon exploitation is finding a means whereby to reduce emissions without harming favourable economic growth. In order to do this, a flexible, adaptable economic instrument such as incentives can be employed. Incentives can take the form of input or output taxing and charges, subsidies, economic policies, voluntary programs and permit and regulatory incentives. If implemented correctly, economic incentives have the ability to significantly reduce emissions of greenhouse gases in a manner that is favourable to the economy.

According to various economic studies, advantages of incentives are that they can be established at a relatively low cost, they encourage healthy competition amongst firms, and they are not as stringent as other approaches to managing emissions, thus making the chances of actually reaching a target of reduced GHG emissions attainable.

To be continued

If you wish to contribute to this guest series send in your ideas to Ira Mathur at [email protected] or [email protected] and join our facebook page on http://www.facebook.com/cleaningupthemess?ref=ts