Capital Budgeting and Climate Change: Does Corporate Internal Carbon Pricing Reduce CO2 Emissions

Abstract

Internal carbon pricing by corporations is a relatively new tool in carbon management. Using a sample of 1,274 firms from 45 countries and across 43 industries reporting to the Carbon Disclosure Project (the CDP) during the years, 2015 to 2018, this study uses carbon emissions intensity ratios to compare the carbon emission reductions of firms that have engaged in carbon pricing for the most recent four years with other firms that do not employ internal carbon prices. Our univariate analysis for the entire sample shows no significant difference in either revenue or employee-based carbon intensities between firms using an internal carbon price and other firms. However, when we examine industry sectors with high CO2 emissions and which are capital-intensive, there is a significant difference: Carbon pricing firms reduce emissions more quickly based on both revenue intensity and employee-intensity measures. This subsample of firms is comprised of companies in the extractive, airline, ground transportation, cement manufacturing and utilities sectors, so represent firms that regularly make large capital investments. Our results are consistent with internal carbon pricing helping capital-intensive firms make investment decisions that lower carbon emissions. Multivariate regressions confirm that the effect of internal carbon pricing is additional to reductions realized from other carbon efficiency tactics pursued by sample firms. Our results are unaffected by the existence of national carbon tax plans.