Heads of state, city, provincial and business leaders joined forces Monday in Bonn in Germany to put a price on carbon pollution in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Launched on Monday, the Carbon Pricing Panel takes carbon pollution pricing as a key strategy to fight climate change and increase investments for a low carbon future, according to The World Bank statement.
Convened by World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, the Carbon Pricing Panel includes the IMF’s Managing Director Christine Lagarde and OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria. In addition, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande, and Chilean, Philippines and Mexican presidents, Ethiopian prime minister, the governor of U.S. state California and mayor of Brazil's Rio de Janeiro have also taken part in the panel.
'There has never been a global movement to put a price on carbon at this level and with this degree of unison,' President Jim Yong Kim said.
'It marks a turning point from the debate on the economic systems needed for low carbon growth to the implementation of policies and pricing mechanisms to deliver jobs, clean growth and prosperity. The science is clear, the economics compelling and we now see political leadership emerging to take green investment to scale at a speed commensurate with the climate challenge,' he explained.
Carbon pricing reduces emissions by tackling global warming and helps to alleviate health and environmental problems. In addition, carbon pricing supports solutions for clean energy by driving innovation and investments in low-carbon research and development.
Around 40 nations and 23 cities, states and regions have implemented, or are putting a price on carbon with programs and mechanisms covering about 12 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, the World Bank statement said.
The number of implemented or scheduled carbon pricing instruments has nearly doubled since 2012, reaching an aggregate market value of about $50 billion, it added.
Moreover, more than 400 businesses around the world are using a voluntary, internal price on carbon as part of their investment strategies, as the number of companies tripled compared with last year.
The call for carbon pricing comes ahead of the Paris climate talks in December. The UN's international climate change conference in Paris will be held between Nov. 30 and Dec. 11. It aims to achieve a legally binding international agreement, although the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which tried to reduce greenhouse emissions, was not ratified by all countries throughout the world.
By Ovunc Kutlu
Anadolu Agency
ovunc.kutlu@aa.com.tr