The point is presumably to phase out existing taxes on energy usage, or generic corporation taxes, in favour of new taxes on carbon emissions. What this means i

The point is presumably to phase out existing taxes on energy usage, or generic corporation taxes, in favour of new taxes on carbon emissions. What this means is that if there are two businesses which both consume lots of energy, but business A emits less carbon than business B, then A pays less tax than B. Under the current system they would both pay the same amount of tax. This means that shifting to a lower-carbon strategy can be a competitive advantage as it reduces the tax burden of the business. Starting up a new operation which will emit high levels of carbon is now _less_ profitable too.