WASHINGTON – April 19, 2018 – Carbon pricing leaders from around the world came together today to accelerate efforts to extend carbon pricing into new regions and sectors to help the world meet its Paris Agreement climate change targets.
At the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition’s (CPLC) third High Level Assembly, the Coalition announced a High-Level Leadership Forum on Carbon Pricing and Competitiveness that will convene private sector leaders around competitiveness concerns that have tended to inhibit the wider uptake of carbon pricing.
The Leadership Forum will be led by a panel chaired by Mr Feike Sijbesma, CEO of Royal DSM, a science-based company active in health, nutrition and materials. Supported by the CPLC and involving a series of regional consultative dialogues with a range of stakeholders, the Forum will, among other things, explore the evidence base, the concerns of business, and lessons learned in the design and successful implementation of carbon pricing policies. A final report of the Forum will be presented in mid-2019.
“As chair of the High-Level Leadership Forum on Carbon Pricing and Competitiveness, I look forward to facilitating constructive conversations between governments and the private sector about carbon pricing, competitiveness and how we can make solutions for climate change work effectively in the real economy” said Mr Sijbesma.
“This important dialogue with business leaders is essential to understanding some of the perceived barriers while also helping to identify the package of climate change policies that countries need to successfully transition to low-carbon economies,” said John Roome, Sr Director for Climate Change at the World Bank welcomed the Forum’s focus on competitiveness.
The Assembly event took stock of global progress on carbon pricing, highlighting recent developments, and presenting the CPLC’s new work program and governance team. Mr. Gerard Mestrallet, Chairman of the Board of Engie, is the CPLC’s new Co-Chair, succeeding Feike Sijbesma who was in the role for the past two years. Mr. Mestrallet and Ms Catherine McKenna, Canada’s Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, will serve as the Co-Chairs of the High-Level Assembly for the next year.
The Assembly meeting took place during the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings, and featured remarks from World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde and UN Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammed, among others.
During the event, the CPLC released is annual Leadership Report, which provides a review of the work in the past year, case studies from jurisdictions implementing the FASTER Principles for successful carbon pricing and opinion pieces from the Co-Chairs, Commissioners from the High-Level Commission.
The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and We Mean Business also launched a new “Corridors” report, which shows that 27 business leaders believe carbon price levels will need to be as high as $100/tonne by 2030 to decarbonize the power and chemical sectors in line with the Paris Agreement.
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