Can carbon's price finally match its value at COP26?

(Reuters, 6 Oct 2021) A global pricing mechanism for CO2 emissions could make polluters acknowledge and pay the full environmental cost of the oil and gas that drives the wheels of industry.

A cynic, wrote the Irish wit Oscar Wilde, is someone who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.

But at COP26, the climate talks starting in Scotland in just over three weeks, establishing a global price for carbon might be the only way to show the true value of the planet.

A global pricing mechanism for carbon dioxide emissions could make polluters, and maybe their customers, acknowledge and pay the full environmental cost of the oil and gas that drives the wheels of industry and the lifestyles of many consumers.

Many countries have committed to a goal of "net zero" emissions by 2050 to avert the worst of global warming.

But without putting a price on CO2, it is hard for governments to force polluters to cut emissions without disadvantaging them unfairly, for investors to assess their risks, or for companies to know what costs lie ahead.

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Reuters, 6 Oct 2021: Can carbon's price finally match its value at COP26?

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