Page 127 - Low Carbon Development in China and India
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response to the pollutant discharge—including the use of energy and
the emission of greenhouse gases—are emissions trading and taxes.
We will discuss emissions trading in carbon financing in Section 4.
Regarding fees in favour of low carbon growth, we can, first of all,
collect different amounts of fees from real estate developers in a one-off
way in view of the geographic locations of their projects. Such fees can
urge developers to make effective use of the land resources and provide
additional revenue at the same time. For example, the extension of the
subways of Copenhagen, Denmark, was funded by the fees collected
from the real estate development projects in the Orestad district of the
city; the US and Canada both levy different amounts of fees on urban
developers to fund the development of public facilities in the cities
(Burge 2010). These fees are different from the traditional fees, because
they require the project developers to bear the cost of overall city
development outside the territory of their projects, so they have some
referential value for the low carbon financing of local cities in China.
Another example is the St. Paul district of Brazil which increases local
fiscal revenue by selling the right to elevate existing houses, stipulating
that new buildings whose plot ratios exceed the prescribed level must
pay for such right before starting construction. China can also take
into consideration the practice of allowing developers to outrun the
statutory plot ratio yet levying additional fees from them for it. This
cannot only enrich the diversity of the real estate market, but also
provide an effective source of funds for the low carbon growth of
the cities.
Second, we can collect transportation fees, in order to reduce the
use of motor vehicles and thereby reduce carbon emissions and local
pollution in cities. A relatively wide means is to collect congestion
fee, which is levied against motor vehicles at the peak of traffic.
London, Stockholm, Singapore, and Milan have all began to collect
this fee and have effectively reduced the emission of carbon dioxide
(about 19.5 per cent) (Beevers and Carslaw 2005). In particular, in
1875, Singapore began to levy a road congestion fee at the rate of
3 Singapore dollars per day on vehicles (excluding those meant for
public transportation) which enter the 6-square-kilometre downtown
area under control. In the United States, the Congress of the City of New
York adopted a resolution to collect congestion fees in the Manhattan
Borough on March 31, 2008. According to the resolution, a congestion
fee would be imposed on vehicles in the area ranging from the 60th
street in the Manhattan Borough all the way southward to the Wall
Street business community from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day, at the rate
92 Low Carbon Development in China and India
the emission of greenhouse gases—are emissions trading and taxes.
We will discuss emissions trading in carbon financing in Section 4.
Regarding fees in favour of low carbon growth, we can, first of all,
collect different amounts of fees from real estate developers in a one-off
way in view of the geographic locations of their projects. Such fees can
urge developers to make effective use of the land resources and provide
additional revenue at the same time. For example, the extension of the
subways of Copenhagen, Denmark, was funded by the fees collected
from the real estate development projects in the Orestad district of the
city; the US and Canada both levy different amounts of fees on urban
developers to fund the development of public facilities in the cities
(Burge 2010). These fees are different from the traditional fees, because
they require the project developers to bear the cost of overall city
development outside the territory of their projects, so they have some
referential value for the low carbon financing of local cities in China.
Another example is the St. Paul district of Brazil which increases local
fiscal revenue by selling the right to elevate existing houses, stipulating
that new buildings whose plot ratios exceed the prescribed level must
pay for such right before starting construction. China can also take
into consideration the practice of allowing developers to outrun the
statutory plot ratio yet levying additional fees from them for it. This
cannot only enrich the diversity of the real estate market, but also
provide an effective source of funds for the low carbon growth of
the cities.
Second, we can collect transportation fees, in order to reduce the
use of motor vehicles and thereby reduce carbon emissions and local
pollution in cities. A relatively wide means is to collect congestion
fee, which is levied against motor vehicles at the peak of traffic.
London, Stockholm, Singapore, and Milan have all began to collect
this fee and have effectively reduced the emission of carbon dioxide
(about 19.5 per cent) (Beevers and Carslaw 2005). In particular, in
1875, Singapore began to levy a road congestion fee at the rate of
3 Singapore dollars per day on vehicles (excluding those meant for
public transportation) which enter the 6-square-kilometre downtown
area under control. In the United States, the Congress of the City of New
York adopted a resolution to collect congestion fees in the Manhattan
Borough on March 31, 2008. According to the resolution, a congestion
fee would be imposed on vehicles in the area ranging from the 60th
street in the Manhattan Borough all the way southward to the Wall
Street business community from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day, at the rate
92 Low Carbon Development in China and India
