After nearly a decade of delays, South Africa has just joined some 40 countries that have enacted national carbon tax policies, aiming to curb the rise in carbon emissions to meet global climate change targets. South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa signed on Sunday the carbon tax act that will introduce a carbon tax on June 1 in one of Africa’s worst polluters. In the first phase of the tax implementation—June 2019 through December 2022—the tax rate will be equal to US$8.32 (120 South African rand) per one ton of carbon dioxide equivalent. The second phase of the carbon tax will be between 2023 and 2030, according to a statement of South Africa’s National Treasury. In the first phase, allowable tax breaks will effectively slash the carbon tax to between US$0.42 (6 rand) and US$3.33 (48 rand) per ton of CO2 equivalent, according to the treasury. “A review of the […]