Virtual Carbon Pricing (VCP) is a decision-making approach where you voluntarily impose a carbon tax on yourself at a predetermined rate in your daily economic activities. The collected carbon tax can be set aside temporarily to help you feel the cost, but you don't necessarily have to give it away. VCP aims to guide our purchases towards goods and services that strike the right balance between environmental friendliness and economic reasonableness.

Anyone can start VCP by mentally applying carbon pricing when shopping as a consumer. Nowadays, many online shopping sites display the carbon emissions associated with a product or service in tons. Multiply this by your chosen rate, say $10 per metric ton of CO₂ equivalent, and add it to the price. You can then decide whether to buy it or choose a different product.

If you own a business, you can keep a record of VCP-affected accounting and base some or all of your decisions (such as sourcing, HR evaluation, investment, etc.) on the financial impacts under VCP. This will also encourage your employees and vendors to make greener choices. In fact, many companies have already introduced such mechanisms under the name of Internal Carbon Pricing.

You can also sell your products at VCP-affected prices by adding carbon fees or applying carbon reduction discounts to your product prices. This will help your customers make greener decisions.