A few years ago, I began keeping a private spreadsheet of companies that have internal carbon fees. Carbon fees are an elegant and logical way to create a budget for corporate climate action, and an excellent example of putting a real price on carbon. So, I’m always inspired by, and curious about, companies that successfully use them––How do they structure the fee? What does it apply to? And how much is it?
I began sharing this spreadsheet publicly in 2025 and I’ve now published an updated (and much expanded) 2026 edition. You can access it here:
What are carbon fees?
Carbon fees are a real charge companies levy across business units per tonne of CO2e emissions. They’re a type of internal carbon pricing that uniquely involves collecting an actual fee per tonne of emissions.
Carbon fees incentivize emissions reductions, increase transparency into the climate impact of business operations, and create a straightforward climate action budget, directly linked to ongoing emissions.
Here are a few insights from this year’s carbon fee tracker:
1. Fees on employee travel average $88/tonne CO2e
Employee travel may be the easiest place to start with an internal carbon fee. The data is pretty clean and easy to get. And the fee immediately opens up a great line of communication across the company on the climate impact of business operations.
Many of the biggest companies using internal carbon fees started just with a fee on travel, and expand the levy from there.
2. Tech firms’ internal carbon fees average $118/tonne CO2e
Tech firms use the highest average fees per tonne. They’re followed closely by financial services firms (avg $90/tonne), another sector with high profit:emissions ratios.
3. 2026 saw a big spike in carbon fee adoption from consumer-facing brands
The non-profit The Change Climate Project launched The Climate Label in Jan 2025. The certification requires participants not only to make steady emissions reductions, but also adopt a ≥$15/tonne internal carbon fee. Over 190 companies––mostly small and mid-sized B2C brands––certified under the label in 2025.
You can read more about carbon fees and see the full list of >220 companies using them in Carbon Capital Lab’s latest report, here.