World Bank calls for a price on carbon

Thursday, 22 January 2015

World leaders must commit to pricing carbon, cutting fossil fuel subsidies and tackling climate change this year, according to World Bank Group president Jim Yong Kim.

Kim spoke out in an opinion piece published today as the World Economic Forum's meeting in Davos, Switzerland continued into its second day, covering topics including sustainable development as well as the COP21 climate talks taking place in Paris this December.

"There can be no doubt that this year world leaders must commit to transforming their economies to combat climate change," Kim wrote. "We must put a price on carbon and begin to rein in pollution that fuels climate change. And world leaders must produce a substantive climate agreement in Paris that commits every country to reduce greenhouse gas emissions."

Much attention has recently been directed to the drop in oil prices, with the effects of this being a recurring topic at Davos. Kim said the price drop was an opportunity: "Governments in oil-importing countries have a cushion to increase the price on oil while also providing more support to the poor."

More than $500 billion goes to directly support fossil fuel extraction and use around the world each year, noted Kim, before calling for this money to be "invested in resilience, healthcare and targeted support for the poor, and in developing clean technologies that can move the world toward a safer future."

"Our choices now can lead to a cleaner, healthier world," said Kim, encouraging more politicians to join the ranks of "almost 40 countries and more than 20 cities, states and provinces [that] now price carbon or plan to."

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News