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Draft Carbon Tax Bill 2015: Republic of South Africa

The National Treasury publishes the Draft Carbon Tax Bill for public comment, following on the announcement made by the Minister of Finance in the 2015 Budget. Cabinet approved the publication of the Bill and noted that the carbon tax forms an integral part of the system for implementing government policy on climate change as outlined in the 2011 National Climate Change Response Policy (NCCRP) and the National Development Plan. South Africa has committed to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions below business as usual by 34 per cent by 2020 and 42 per cent by 2025, as well as adaptation measures, as outlined in South Africa’s Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) recently submitted to the United Nations for the upcoming Conference of Parties (COP) 21 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Paris. The carbon tax seeks to price carbon by obliging the polluter to internalise the external costs of emitting carbon, and contribute towards addressing the harm caused by such pollution.