A price on carbon is essential to combating global warming, a report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has found, giving a boost to the federal government after weeks of debate on the carbon tax.
As the international community prepares for the Durban conference on climate change, set to start in South Africa on Monday, the OECD’s environmental outlook to 2050 urges countries to adopt carbon prices to stimulate clean energy development and greater efficiency.
”A significant carbon price is needed to induce technological change,” the report said.
Carbon taxes and emissions trading schemes would ”provide a dynamic incentive for innovation and private investment in low-carbon, climate-resilient infrastructure, plant and equipment,” the report states.
In one of the gloomiest recent forecasts, the report found that without more ambitious policies, the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide equivalents would reach nearly 685 parts per million by 2050 - much more than the 450 ppm scientists believe is needed for the world to have a chance at keeping the average global temperature rise to 2 degrees. If this happens, the global temperature is likely to rise by 3 to 6 degrees by the end of the century, which would ”continue to alter precipitation patterns, melt glaciers, cause sea-level rise and intensify extreme weather events to unprecedented levels”.
The latest global climate conference in Durban is widely expected to deliver no new international treaty for binding carbon dioxide cuts. However, the report by the OECD - a collection of 34 developed nations - is likely to help inject some sense of urgency into discussions, warning that delays will make climate action costlier in years ahead.
”Delay is costly and could become unaffordable. The further we delay action, the costlier it will be to stay within 2 degrees,” the report found, ”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 came as China confirmed it was establishing seven pilot carbon market schemes in the cities of Beijing, Tianjin, Chongqing and Shanghai, as well as the industrial regions of Shenzhen, Hubei and Guangdong - covering as many as 200 million people.
A spokesman for Climate Change Minister 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”.
