How can we hold people accountable for their carbon footprint?

The best way to hold people accountable for their carbon footprint is called ‘carbon pricing,’ which means putting a price on carbon dioxide emissions, so that it becomes more expensive for companies to pollute, and for people to buy products that are polluting.

This corresponds to what we call ‘the polluter-pay principle.’ It means that the person (or company) who is responsible for the pollution must pay for the damage it causes. For example, if companies paid a tax on the amount of carbon dioxide they use, their business would become more expensive to run, and this would encourage the company to invest in alternative sources of energy (wind and solar energy).

A variation of this principle is ‘the user-pay principle.’ It is the idea that the consumer, who benefits from the pollution, should pay for the damage. For example, if products with a high carbon footprint were more expensive, people would want to buy less of them, and use alternatives.