Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the social cost per tonne of emitted carbon his Department uses to judge the cost benefit of energy policies.

DECC has published a set of carbon values to be used in policy appraisal across government. These values are publically available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/valuation-of-energy-use-and-greenhouse-gas-emissions-for-appraisal.

These carbon values relate to the estimated cost of mitigating emissions consistent with the UK’s short and long-term greenhouse gas emissions targets.

For appraising policies that reduce or increase emissions in sectors covered by the EU Emissions Trading System, a ‘traded price of carbon’ is used. This is based on estimates of the future price of emissions allowances and, in the longer term, estimates of future global carbon market prices. For policies not covered by the EU ETS, a ‘non-traded price of carbon’ is used, based on estimates of the cost of action required to meet wider emissions reduction targets.