Paris — France’s recent industrial history may have a lesson for governments balancing climate change and economic demands: carbon taxes can cut greenhouse emissions and are not that bad for jobs either.

Analysing 15 years of data from 8,000 French manufacturers, economists at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) found that when energy costs rise 10%, emissions decline 9%. Crucially for governments worried about the political costs of climate policies, even if carbon taxes cause job losses at individual firms, there is no net loss of employment in the sector...

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