Mapped: Carbon Pricing Initiatives Around the World
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Mapped: Carbon Pricing Initiatives Around the World

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World's carbon pricing initiatives

Mapped: Carbon Pricing Initiatives Around the World

Over the past two decades, governments around the world have responded to climate change through various initiatives and policies, with carbon pricing at the forefront.

A recent example is the Canadian province of Ontario’s Emissions Performance Standards program, first launched in 2022. The program sets annual carbon emissions limits for industrial facilities, with a fee on excess carbon emitted.

This graphic by Jonathan Letourneau maps 70 active carbon pricing initiatives around the world and highlights their global impact as seen in the 2022 World Bank report.

But first, let’s look at the different types of carbon pricing:

Carbon Tax vs. ETS

Broadly speaking, carbon pricing gives emission generating organizations a choice between reducing their carbon emissions and paying for them.

The two typical initiatives used to offer this choice are carbon taxes and emissions trading systems (ETS):

  • Carbon tax: This tax or levy is directly applied to the production of carbon emissions or fuels that release greenhouse gases. This makes products or services that release substantial carbon more expensive than greener alternatives (or reducing emissions).
  • Emissions Trading System (ETS): Also called the cap-and-trade system, ETS puts a cap on the total level of greenhouse gases a licensed industry can emit. Companies with low emissions can sell their unused emission allowance with larger emitters that have exceeded the cap.

The World’s Carbon Pricing Initiatives

As of the end of 2022, Europe was home to 24 of the 70 active carbon pricing initiatives in the world.

LocationCarbon Pricing TypeCO2e Price Per Tonne (USD)Emissions Covered (Tonnes)
🇦🇷 ArgentinaCarbon tax$4.9979.46
🇦🇹 AustriaETSN/A34.41
🇨🇦 CanadaETS$39.9653.35
🇨🇦 CanadaCarbon tax$39.96167.67
🇨🇦 Canada - AlbertaETS$39.96140.36
🇨🇦 Canada - British ColumbiaETS$19.98N/A
🇨🇦 Canada - British ColumbiaCarbon tax$39.9646.41
🇨🇦 Canada - New BrunswickETS$39.967.05
🇨🇦 Canada - New BrunswickCarbon tax$39.965.50
🇨🇦 Canada - Newfoundland and LabradorETS$39.964.59
🇨🇦 Canada - Newfoundland and LabradorCarbon tax$39.965.01
🇨🇦 Canada - Northwest TerritoriesCarbon tax$31.971.33
🇨🇦 Canada - Nova ScotiaETS$23.1014.02
🇨🇦 Canada - OntarioETS$31.9741.12
🇨🇦 Canada - Prince Edward IslandCarbon tax$23.980.97
🇨🇦 Canada - QuebecETS$30.8360.92
🇨🇦 Canada - SaskatchewanETS$39.9610.23
🇨🇱 ChileCarbon tax$5.0036.93
🇨🇳 ChinaETS$9.204,500.00
🇨🇳 China - BeijingETS$6.5331.89
🇨🇳 China - ChongqingETS$5.6667.14
🇨🇳 China - FujianETS$1.83125.13
🇨🇳 China - Guangdong (except Shenzhen)ETS$12.51259.23
🇨🇳 China - HubeiETS$7.2463.80
🇨🇳 China - ShanghaiETS$9.2878.48
🇨🇳 China - ShenzhenETS$0.6413.17
🇨🇳 China - TianjinETS$4.4053.08
🇨🇴 ColombiaCarbon tax$5.0144.68
🇩🇰 DenmarkCarbon tax$26.6217.21
🇪🇪 EstoniaCarbon tax$2.211.41
🇪🇺 EU - Norway, Iceland, LiechtensteinETS$86.531,626.60
🇫🇮 FinlandCarbon tax$85.1026.93
🇫🇷 FranceCarbon tax$49.29157.78
🇩🇪 GermanyETS$33.16349.44
🇮🇸 IcelandCarbon tax$34.252.72
🇮🇪 IrelandCarbon tax$45.3127.05
🇯🇵 JapanCarbon tax$2.36952.66
🇯🇵 Japan - SaitamaETS$3.848.16
🇯🇵 Japan - TokyoETS$4.4213.26
🇰🇿 KazakhstanETS$1.08169.18
🇰🇷 Korea, Republic ofETS$18.75554.44
🇱🇻 LatviaCarbon tax$16.580.38
🇱🇮 LiechtensteinCarbon tax$129.860.15
🇱🇺 LuxembourgCarbon tax$43.356.80
🇲🇽 MexicoCarbon tax$3.72352.61
🇲🇽 MexicoETS$3.72320.55
🇲🇽 Mexico - Baja CaliforniaCarbon taxN/AN/A
🇲🇽 Mexico - TamaulipasCarbon taxN/AN/A
🇲🇽 Mexico - ZacatecasCarbon taxN/AN/A
🇲🇪 MontenegroETSN/AN/A
🇳🇱 NetherlandsCarbon tax$46.1425.96
🇳🇿 New ZealandETS$52.6241.61
🇳🇴 NorwayCarbon tax$87.6144.73
🇵🇱 PolandCarbon taxN/A15.94
🇵🇹 PortugalCarbon tax$26.4425.04
🇸🇬 SingaporeCarbon tax$3.9656.42
🇸🇮 SloveniaCarbon tax$19.1210.65
🇿🇦 South AfricaCarbon tax$9.84459.17
🇪🇸 SpainCarbon tax$16.586.23
🇸🇪 SwedenCarbon tax$129.8925.83
🇨🇭 SwitzerlandETS$64.225.06
🇨🇭 SwitzerlandCarbon tax$129.8615.75
🇺🇸 United States - CaliforniaETS$30.82309.47
🇺🇸 United States - New England Area (RGGI)ETS$13.8967.92
🇺🇸 United States - New England Area (RGGI)ETS$0.506.07
🇺🇸 United States - OregonETSN/A27.09
🇺🇦 UkraineCarbon tax$1.03197.46
🇬🇧 United KingdomCarbon tax$23.6597.38
🇬🇧 United KingdomETS$98.99129.85
🇺🇾 UruguayCarbon tax$137.304.38

Europe’s position is not surprising given many of its countries have set ambitious carbon neutral goals. The region’s European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) is the world’s largest carbon market, covering 1.8 billion tonnes of emissions annually.

Canada has also implemented numerous regional and national carbon pricing initiatives, with many provinces falling under both main types of carbon pricing. For example, carbon emissions in British Columbia—the first jurisdiction in North America to implement carbon pricing—are priced under both a carbon tax and an ETS.

Meanwhile, the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases in 2021, China, implemented its much-awaited national ETS the same year. In just one year, the country’s traded carbon emission allowances crossed 200 million tonnes.

In the U.S., several states have implemented their own carbon pricing initiatives. California’s cap-and-trade initiative covers emissions from electricity, transportation, and industry, while the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative sets a cap on emissions from power plants of nine Northeastern states, including New York, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania.

The Impact of Carbon Pricing

Putting a price on carbon emissions seems to have made an impact in reducing emissions.

In Europe, the EU ETS has helped reduce emissions from the power sector by 43% in the region since its inception in 2005.

Likewise, California’s Cap-and-Trade program has helped the state meet its goal of reducing carbon emissions back to 1990 levels.

In many jurisdictions, including China and Canada, there are plans to double down on carbon pricing plans, either by increasing the cost of carbon or lowering emissions limits.

But while many economists and policy makers have found carbon pricing to be the most efficient tool to curb emissions, they also point out that the programs themselves need to be designed well. Initiatives with limits that are too high or prices that are too low can be ineffectual, as well as giving certain major polluters exemptions from programs.

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This article was published as a part of Visual Capitalist's Creator Program, which features data-driven visuals from some of our favorite Creators around the world.

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Energy

Visualizing China’s Battery Recycling Dominance

In 2025, China will hold 78% of pre-treatment and 89% of refining capacity.

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Sankey chart showing China's dominant position in both the pre-treatment and refining stages of battery recycling.

Visualizing China’s Battery Recycling Dominance

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Battery recycling is expected to become a cornerstone of the global energy transition as electric vehicles (EVs) and other battery-powered technologies become more widespread.

According to exclusive data from Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, China holds a dominant position in both the pre-treatment and refining stages of battery recycling.

Chinese Growing Dominance

Battery recycling involves two major stages. First is pre-treatment, where recycling begins. Scrap batteries are typically shredded and separated to produce a material known as black mass.

The next stage is refining, which processes black mass into valuable lithium-, nickel-, and cobalt-based chemicals for use in battery cathodes.

China’s scale, infrastructure, and early investments in battery supply chains have translated into an outsized advantage in recycling capacity.

The country is expected to process 3.6 million tonnes of scrap batteries in 2025, up from 1.2 million tonnes in 2022. This would account for 78% of global pre-treatment capacity, with total global capacity projected to exceed 4.6 million tonnes.

Region/Tonnes2022202320242025P
Global1.5M2.4M2.8M4.6M
China1.2M1.8M2.1M3.6M
Asia excl. China158K231K288K361K
Europe118K133K243K416K
North America59K165K129K196K
ROW4K6K6K40K

In second place is the rest of Asia, with 361,000 tonnes, followed by Europe with 416,000 tonnes. While the U.S. attempts to reduce its reliance on China in the mineral sector, North America accounts for just 196,000 tonnes.

The refining stage is even more concentrated.

China’s black mass refining capacity is projected to nearly triple, from 895,000 tonnes in 2022 to 2.5 million tonnes by 2025—representing 89% of global capacity.

Region/Tonnes2022202320242025P
Global960K1.4M1.7M2.8M
China895K1.3M1.5M2.5M
Asia excl. China48K101K146K225K
Europe13K23K25K28K
North America4K5K5K21K
ROW01K1K32K

Refining is critical, as it converts recycled material into high-purity, battery-grade chemicals. The rest of Asia is expected to refine 225,000 tonnes, Europe 28,000 tonnes, and North America only 21,000 tonnes. Between 2022 and 2025, China’s refining capacity is projected to grow by 179%, while North America’s is expected to surge by 425%—albeit from a much smaller base.

As global demand for EVs and battery storage rises, countries looking to build domestic recycling infrastructure must accelerate investment to reduce dependence on Chinese supply chains.

Learn More on the Voronoi App 

If you enjoyed this post, be sure to check out this graphic, which forecasts the number of mines that must be developed to meet the expected demand for energy transition raw materials and chemicals by 2030.

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