European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, is urging G20 leaders to support a proposal to establish global carbon pricing. Despite having already generated over 150 billion euros from emissions trading solely within Europe, “more revenue than that” is required, according to top EU officials.
Historically, many countries have begun pricing carbon with the explicit aim of achieving their climate targets – either through taxes or within an emissions trading system framework.
According to the World Bank, 73 different carbon pricing models currently exist, purportedly covering around 23 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
“Climate change is man-made. So it means we can address it. For this we need innovation, investments in green technologies, renewable energy capacity and energy efficiency. This requires more investments. At the G20 I invited leaders to join the call for global carbon pricing“, declared the EU chief on X, previously known as Twitter.
Climate change is man-made. So it means we can address it.
For this we need innovation, investments in green technologies, renewable energy capacity and energy efficiency.
This requires more investments.
At the G20 I invited leaders to join the call for global carbon pricing.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) September 9, 2023
For some time, von der Leyen has been urging the international community to adopt a unified global carbon pricing system to expedite the transition to a lower carbon-emitting economy. She notably advocated for this during a summit in Paris in June, where she also claimed that “almost nothing” of today’s emissions are subject to taxes and fees.
At the opening of the G20 meeting in New Delhi, von der Leyen contended that the EU’s emissions trading system has resulted in a 35% reduction in emissions since 2005 and generated over 152 billion euros in revenue.
– But more revenues will be needed, she said.
One of the countries that recently introduced carbon pricing is Japan, and they plan to launch the “carbon credit market” in October.
The G20 comprises 19 of the world’s largest economies plus the EU. Together, they are estimated to account for about 80% of global emissions.
