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CHINA’S Ministry of Finance is considering a proposal to tax greenhouse gas emissions, according to state news agency China Daily.

The draft proposal was put together by the Fiscal Science Research Centre, and would see the heaviest users of coal, crude oil and natural gas – most likely producers and wholesalers of fossil fuel-based energy – taxed at a rate of 10 yuan (US$1.58) per ton of CO₂ emitted, increasing over time.

China is one of the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitters, but late last year agreed to the deal struck at UN climate talks in Durban, South Africa obliging them to abide by emissions targets set in 2015. Under the carbon tax proposals, the government would begin to collect tax by 2015. Su Ming, deputy director of the Fiscal Science Research Centre said that companies which made efforts to cut their carbon emissions would get tax cuts.

“The carbon tax will bring many benefits,” the Ministry of Finance research centre’s head Jia Kang told the Economic Information Daily. “One is to raise companies’ environmental costs and force them to improve their production technology.”

Other researchers have warned that energy costs for consumers might rise, but Su said that it was time to let people know that they must pay for what they use.