The article “Social Cost of Carbon as an International Benchmark to Drive Countries’ Carbon Pricing during the Transition”, written by Andrea Molocchi and Giulio Mela, Department of Sustainable Development and Energy Sources, has been published by Sustainability on the 2nd October 2024.

Authors propose a global benchmark based on the calculation of the social cost of carbon to guide the energy and carbon taxation policies of countries up to 2050, in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement.

The benchmark identifies the degree to which states internalise the social cost of carbon, highlighting differences between states and groups of states in achieving the level of taxation that minimises the expected damage of climate change.

Through a feasibility test, the article identifies the main governance, economic and distributional conditions for a full implementation of the benchmark in the framework of the Paris Agreement.