EQUILIBRIUM Quarterly Journal of Economics and Economic

Abstract: Norway was the first country in the world to fix a carbon dioxide target. Norway was also one of the first countries to implement taxes to increase incentives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The aim of the paper is to analyse the role of environmental taxes in Norwegian climate policy. The author also examines the differences between the climate change policy measures in Norway and in the Euro-pean Union countries, especially Poland.The first part of the paper contains an analysis of data on greenhouse gas emissions in Norway in the years 1990-2011. In the further sections of the paper the discussion is focused on the characteristics of Norwegian tax system and design of taxes used in Norway as instruments for ad-dressing climate change. Particular attention is paid to the carbon tax, in force since 1991. The tax is responsible for large CO2 emission reductions. The paper is largely based on review of various reports, literature and websites on climat