Effective carbon rate on energy-related CO₂ emissions (national average)

The Effective Carbon Rate (ECR) measures the average explicit price put on energy-related CO₂ emissions through a combination of (1) fuel excise taxes, (2) explicit carbon taxes, and (3) emissions trading system (ETS) permit prices. It is expressed in euros per tonne of CO₂ (€/tCO₂) and summarizes how strongly a country’s policies price carbon across fuels and sectors.

This is a useful “reality check” statistic because countries can have climate targets but very different real-world incentives: two places may emit similar amounts of CO₂, yet one applies a high price signal (via taxes/ETS) while the other prices emissions close to zero. OECD publishes ECR values across major economies and emerging markets; coverage is broad but not universal, and values can shift with fuel-tax changes and ETS price movements.