Carbon pricing is increasingly seen by governments not only as a cost-effective policy to incentivize emission reductions, but also as a source of revenue. In 2017, governments raised US$33 billion in carbon pricing revenues. This amount is expected to be higher as carbon prices increase and jurisdictions with carbon pricing grow. As the revenues grow, there is also an increasing demand for transparency on how these revenues are used.

The optimal use of these revenues could play a key role in building acceptance for carbon pricing and contribute to reaching the ambitions of the Paris Agreement, but there are diverging views how carbon pricing revenues could be used best to achieve these objectives.

In this workshop, Navigant and Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) will provide an overview of the different uses of carbon pricing revenues with examples from existing initiatives. We will present the considerations for the different uses and research findings how stakeholder groups vary in their perception of the best use of these revenues in terms of awareness, acceptability and importance.

This workshop partly builds on research under the Carbon Pricing Unlocked partnership between The Generation Foundation and Navigant, and will deliver additional insights gained from CCL’s direct ongoing citizen-to-government engagement in the U.S., Canada, and 46 other nations around the world.