Why don’t we pay taxes to reach climate targets?
Year after year, the data shows the same thing. Global emissions are not falling at the pace required, and the consequences are accelerating climate change.
Much of the public conversation still assumes that emissions are being reduced. They are not. And when the challenge is this big, small, incremental improvements are no longer enough. Sometimes, real progress requires more radical change.
In climate action, that time is now.
Radical change will not come from individual consumer choices or voluntary corporate initiatives alone. We cannot place our faith there. While these efforts matter, they are structurally incapable of delivering the scale and speed required.
History shows that transformative change happens through political leadership and policy. Free and equal education and healthcare did not emerge because individuals opted in, they exist because governments decided they were essential parts of welfare, funded collectively through taxes. Democratic societies accept this because the benefit is shared.
Climate and environmental protection must become just as fundamental.
It should be treated as a core part of welfare. Call it planetary care.
The solution is straightforward:
Make climate and environment an explicit part of welfare policy.
Fund it accordingly through taxes.
Create a level playing field where everyone participates.
In Sweden, you cannot opt out of paying for education or healthcare. In the near future, it should feel just as obvious that you cannot opt out of paying for planetary care. The benefits, stability, resilience, and a livable planet, are shared by all.
Public support will grow with education and time. But political leadership is needed now. True leadership means acting on what is necessary, even before it is universally obvious.
A lot of us would willingly pay higher income and profit taxes if it meant securing the investments needed to meet climate targets and protect the planet for future generations.
This is a tax worth paying.
—
Fredrik Åkerman
CEO and Co-founder
Volta Greentech
