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A pollution charge is a fee imposed by the government on businesses that produce pollutants as a byproduct of their operations. It is a form of environmental tax designed to reduce environmental harm and to internalize the external costs of pollution.

External costs are the negative effects of production on third parties that are not directly involved in the production process and are not accounted for in the market price. These costs are borne by society and the environment rather than the producer or consumer. Examples of external costs include air pollution, water pollution, and damage to ecosystems.

A pollution charge provides an incentive for firms to take external costs into account and reduce their environmental impact. This happens because the pollution charge increases the operating cost of the firm by imposing a fee for each unit of pollution produced. As a result, the firm has a financial incentive to reduce the amount of pollution (and thus, the external costs) it creates to lower its pollution charges and improve its profit margin. In this way, the pollution charge incentivizes businesses to take external costs into account by: 1. Increasing their production costs according to the level of pollution they create 2. Encouraging the adoption of cleaner production methods and technologies 3. Encouraging firms to reduce pollution to remain competitive within the market By incorporating external costs into the firm's decision-making process, a pollution charge helps to address the market's failure to otherwise consider the environmental consequences of production.