Article: COP26 -Stronger Commitments on Carbon Pricing needed

Isabella Goldstein, Campaign Manager at the Zero Carbon Campaign explains why stronger policy commitments on carbon pricing are essential – with the mechanism already endorsed by global leaders such as Angela Merkel and Justin Trudeau, those attending the summit should follow suit.

Carbon pricing is having a moment. In the last few weeks alone, the mechanism – which sees a cost attached to the production of greenhouse gas emissions – has been endorsed by the IMF’s Managing Director Kristina Georgieva, European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen, Canadian President Justin Trudeau and the International Chamber of Commerce. German Chancellor Angela Merkel even used her last ever climate speech at COP26 to ‘make a clear plea for the pricing of carbon emissions.’

Momentum is clearly building, but the chances of this rhetoric being effectively translated into action depend on the way in which these policy commitments are implemented. This was highlighted in a recent Parliamentary debate on the introduction of charges on carbon emissions, which was triggered by the Zero Carbon Campaign’s e-petition. The debate saw a cross-section of MPs make the case for an equitable approach towards the introduction of strengthened carbon pricing policies, which spread the costs and benefits of decarbonisation more fairly across society. Three core themes emerged…