High-Level Commission on Carbon Pricing and Competitiveness
As governments and industry aim to achieve growth while also addressing the threat of climate change, carbon pricing, whether in the form of a carbon tax or an emissions trading scheme, has emerged as an indispensable part of a strategy to reducing emissions in an efficient way.
However, the possibility that putting a price on carbon may have an adverse effect on the competitiveness of a carbon-intensive firm, sector or country, is often a major concern for industry and policy makers considering the introduction of this type of policy.
For industry the concern is partially about the low-carbon transition challenge and partially about the potential for international competitors to have an unfair advantage if they do not face a similar carbon price.
In recognition of these concerns, the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition launched the High-Level Commission on Carbon Pricing and Competitiveness at its 2018 High-Level Assembly. The Commission is co-chaired by Feike Sijbesma, Chairman and CEO, Royal DSM; and Anand Mahindra, Chairman, Mahindra Group. The Commission brings together private sector leaders and senior government officials to explore the evidence base, the concerns of business, and the lessons that can be learned from carbon pricing systems across the world.
The Commission will publish a report, at the margins of the UNSG’s Climate Action Summit in September 2019, providing guidance to governments on the nature of these issues and how they can be addressed.
Mr. Anand Mahindra is the Chairman of the US $20.7 billion Mahindra Group and the Executive Chairman of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. His tenure has seen the Group expand domestically and internationally into a range of major industrial sectors from automobiles and agriculture to IT and aerospace. The Group has also grown inorganically through acquisitions such as Ssangyong Motors, Reva Electric Car Company, Satyam Computer Services, Peugeot Motorcycles, Gippsland Aeronautics, Aerostaff Australia, Holiday Club Resorts, and Pininfarina S.p.A.
He has served on several influential bodies globally, including the Global Board of Advisors of the Council on Foreign Relations, New York and the International Advisory Council of Singapore’s Economic Development Board. He is currently on the board of Invest India, the National Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency. Mr. Mahindra has been named in Barron's List of Top 30 CEOs worldwide (2016) and Fortune Magazine’s list of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders (2014). He was appointed ‘Knight in the National Order of the Legion of Honour’ by the President of the French Republic (2016).
Mr. Mahindra is an incisive business commentator and humanitarian with over 6 million followers on Twitter. Among his many social change initiatives is the Nanhi Kali programme, which, for the last two decades, has provided over 330,000 under-privileged girls access to high quality education.
Feike Sijbesma
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Royal DSM
Feike Sijbesma is CEO of Royal DSM since 2007. He is member of the Supervisory Board of the Dutch Central Bank (DNB); non-executive board member of Unilever; and member of the Global CEO Council of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries. He is one of the Climate Leaders of the World Bank and is co-Chair of CPLC High-Level Commission on Carbon Pricing and Competitiveness, and Climate Leader for the World Bank Group. He is a member of the Board of Trustees for the World Economic Forum, and chairs of several initiatives at WEF around consumer and chemical industries and is heading the CEO Climate Leaders.
Feike Sijbesma has transformed Royal DSM from a chemical company into a purpose-led global (bio-)science-based company in Nutrition, Health and Sustainable Living. DSM is global leader in food/nutritional ingredients and a leading company in sustainable materials and solutions among others for alternative energy sources. At DSM sustainability is not only a key responsibility but also a core value and a main business driver.
Mr. Sijbesma is a recipient of the Humanitarian of the Year Award & Leaders of Change Award presented by the United Nations; among others he received an honorary doctorate from Maastricht University, Netherlands; he received the Fortune Award for Circular Economy Leadership and was ranked in the Fortune World’s 50 Greatest Leaders in 2018.
Mr. Sijbesma studied medical biology at University of Utrecht and business administration at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
Felipe Calderón, Former President, Mexico; President, Human Sustainable Development Foundation; Honorary Chair, Global Commission on the Economy and Climate
Goh Swee Chen, Former Chairman, Shell Companies in Singapore; President, Global Compact Network Singapore
Jos Delbeke, Former DG-Climate Action, European Commission; Professor, European University Institute, Florence, and KU Leuven, Belgium
Lim Ah Doo, Chairman, Olam International Ltd.
Anne M. Finucane, Vice Chairman, Bank of America; Chairman of the Board, Bank of America Merrill Lynch Europe
Jean-Sébastien Jacques, Chief Executive Officer, Rio Tinto
Martin Lindqvist, President and Chief Executive Officer, SSAB AB
Bongani Nqwababa, Joint President and Chief Executive Officer, Sasol
Mari Elka Pangestu, Former Minister of Trade, Indonesia; Professor, University of Indonesia; Board of Trustees, Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Jakarta; Senior Fellow, Columbia University
Mahendra Singhi, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Ltd.
Nicholas Stern, IG Patel Professor of Economics and Government; Chairman of the Grantham Research Institute, and Head of the India Observatory, London School of Economics
Eirik Wærness, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist, Equinor
