idea
Carbon taxes are taxed collected on CO2 production. There are a few main ways of doing so, either taxing the fuel itself based on the CO2 released, taxing fuel consumption based on activity. Carbon trading (i.e. less polutant companies trading carbon to more pollutant companies) is simply a twist on these two, with the twist that it can easily be gamed[1].
Some notes[2] from a discussion on HN related to setting up carbon taxes on shipment in Europe[3]:
It's pretty much a closed system. "EU governments", as much as "governments" is villainized, remain just an entity in the loop. That money is not going straight in the pocket of politicians. It's going in the budget. More revenue on this front means less to pull from somewhere else. Brocken as the electoral system is, all politicians still have a very big incentive if they want to keep their jobs to keep taxation low as they can. If anything by redistributing that money to people the most impacted, or by using it to sponsor incentive programs to reduce local carbon footprint.
Prices for transported goods will surge, which is the intended consequence. If the general price of imported goods raises, then locally manufactured goods become more competitive. This gives an incentive for customers to select products built more closely to their place. It also gives a financial incentive for shipping companies to invest in cleaner transportation if they want to keep business.
Overall, yes this is scary, but think about it at a systemic level. This creates opportunities for local businesses and employers to sell more. This lowers the incentive to keep exploiting low-paid populations across the globe, potentially shifting the balance on their side to make social progress. And this reduces the carbon footprint, which we freaking desperately need.
links
references
Real engineering / Carbon taxes - Carbon taxes work
[3]: Reuters / EU strikes deal to make ships pay for their carbon emissions