Citola Blog
Price on Carbon Essential (OECD)
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has released a report that says a price on carbon is essential to combating changing climatic conditions supporting the passing of the Clean Energy Legislative Package to put a price on carbon in Australia this month.
''A significant carbon price is needed to induce technological change," the report says and is timely as the international community prepares for the COP 17 climate conference in Durban, South Africa next week.
The report continues that carbon tax policies and emissions trading schemes would ''provide a dynamic incentive for innovation and private investment in low-carbon, climate-resilient infrastructure, plant and equipment.”
Some key findings highlighted in the report state that without more ambitious climate and carbon pricing policies, the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases would reach nearly 685 parts per million (ppm) by 2050. 685 ppm is significantly more than the 450 ppm scientists believe is needed for the world to maintain an average global temperature increase to 2 degrees. At 685 ppm, the global temperature will likely increase by 3 to 6 degrees by 2100 which would ''continue to alter precipitation patterns, melt glaciers, cause sea-level rise and intensify extreme weather events to unprecedented levels.''
''Delay is costly and could become unaffordable. The further we delay action, the costlier it will be to stay within 2 degrees… 450 ppm is still achievable, but the costs are rising every day, month and year that passes to compensate for the increased emissions,'' the report stated.
With putting a price on carbon becoming more important, China has confirmed it is establishing seven pilot carbon market schemes in cities that collectively have over 200 million people including Beijing, Tianjin, Chongqing, Shanghai and industrial regions including Shenzhen, Hubei and Guangdong.
A spokesman for Australian Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency Greg Combet said the OECD report confirmed that ''putting a price on carbon is the most effective policy because it creates dynamic incentives for investment in cleaner technologies and infrastructure.”
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