SA to introduce a possible Cabon Levy

South Africa wants to get serious about its environmental commitments. Environment Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk briefed the press on Monday 28 July 2008, about the possibility of introducing a carbon tax.

2003 figures indicate that South Africa's green house gas emissions was the equivalent of 446 million tons of carbon dioxide a year.
According to figures presented at Monday's briefing, this will rise by 100 million tons over the next decade, reaching about 550 million tons in 2027-28.

With regards to the possible carbon levy, van Schalkwyk mentioned they are studying their options.

Options include moving SA's electricity generation away from predominately coal fired power stations and introducing "mandatory national targets for the reduction of transport emissions".

This would include "stringent and escalating" fuel efficiency standards, promoting a shift towards public transport and the "aggressive promotion of hybrids and electric vehicles", van Schalkwyk said.

Cabon levy on power consumers

Its time to start paying a Carbon Levy on South Africa's electricity production. The article from Business Report mentions that the levy could be 2c per Kilowatt.

The organization Seifsa, which represents up to 2,700 companies, wants the carbon levy deferred. They are saying that since we have no choice in where we are getting electricity from, this tax is unfair. 90% of SA's electricity comes from burning fossil fuels.