Carbon credits and offsets in the context of state policy of sustainable development

Abstract

Introduction. Overcoming the coronavirus crisis made it possible to return the focus of the authorities to global issues of sustainable recovery, which are directly related to the so-called green course and the transition to a low-carbon economy. At the international level, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has implemented a number of initiatives that determine the importance of reducing greenhouse gas emissions on the planet, including carbon dioxide (CO2). Worthy of special attention is the fact that it is necessary to implement appropriate strategies of state support and the involvement of progressive financial instruments in order to develop the priorities of the low-carbon economy. Problem Statement. Assessment of prospects for the development of carbon credits and offsets in the context of expanding the range of monetary and fiscal instruments of state regulation of sustainable development. Purpose. To substantiate the essential characteristics of carbon credits and offsets with the aim of providing proposals for the use of foreign experience to create an effective state mechanism designed to stimulate their use for the reconstruction of the economy of Ukraine, namely qualitative recovery, based on maintaining the appropriate level of environmental, social and management components, stimulating the financing of relevant projects and programs. Methods. General scientific and special methods were used, in particular: scientific abstraction and epistemological (content) analysis, synthesis, induction and deduction, analogies and systematization, system-structural analysis, expert evaluation method, index method and grouping method. Results. The article examines the modern environment of sustainable development, considers the state and the potential of popularizing carbon credits and offsets on the way to sustainable development, prospects and tools for developing the relevant market. In addition, the study emphasizes the stages of formation of the carbon credits market. Emphasis is placed on the possibilities of interaction between the participants of the carbon credit market. In view of expanding the practical application of carbon credits, the differences between carbon credits and offsets are emphasized. Forecasts of the development of the global market of carbon credits and offsets were analyzed. Fiscal instruments of influence on the European market of carbon credits and offsets were considered, which made it possible to assess the applied aspects of their application, in particular for the recovery of the economy of Ukraine. Conclusions. Carbon credits are a kind of asset, namely, they make it possible to determine the rights to emit carbon gases. Instead, carbon offsets have a “passive” nature, because they are represented by units that confirm the possibility of reducing these emissions. The annual growth of the volume of carbon credits and offsets in the world determines the need to strengthen the system of state regulation of the processes that take place in the market. Accordingly, the world is integrating the tools of monetary and fiscal policy into the system of managing greenhouse gas emissions in various spheres of economy. The recovery of Ukraine's economy requires the implementation of a qualitatively new sustainable development policy. In particular, it is worth applying rather successful experience of stimulating the use of carbon credits and offsets. The pricing system and fiscal policy measures (regulation of the amount of taxation of carbon emissions) will be of decisive importance for the development of the market. This direction of research is worthy of the attention of domestic scientists and practitioners, which will contribute to the reconstruction and strengthening of the competitive positions of the national economy on international markets.