In light of the COP 21 conference, the United Nations Foundation organized a series of thematic discussions in Paris. Led by the Foundation’s Vice Chair Timothy Wirth, discussions on Wednesday centered on carbon pricing by governments and businesses.

Ted Turner founder of the UN Foundation, and Gro Harlem Brundtland, veteran sustainable development politician attended the event among other dignitaries. The Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED) was represented by Secretary General Najib Saab and Mohamed el-Ashry, senior fellow at the UN Foundation.

 

Turner and Brundtland in discussion

 

Lord Deben, chairman of the UK Committee on Climate Change and previous Secretary of State for the Environment, stressed that a market-based solution is necessary in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The current lack of this realization by governments and businesses worldwide has led to a muddled view of what future policies should look like.

 

To illustrate this distorted view, Lord Deben notes the absurdity in denunciations of governments subsidizing renewables. Governments should instead be accused of the widespread subsidizing of fossil fuels. Most governments still have tax structures that favor oil and gas exploration, with the view that these are most beneficial to local markets. Realistically, governments should take into account the real costs of fossil fuels on general health and the environment.

 

Lord Deben talking about carbon pricing

 

Supporters hope that the final agreement of the Paris summit will encourage a global carbon pricing system. One suggestion has been to include successful experiences countries have already had with carbon pricing systems. One such example is British Columbia, which has implemented a carbon tax collection system. Simple stimulants to citizens include paying less tax by driving less, and thus reducing emissions.

 

El-Ashry taking part in the discussion

 

Taking into account that such a system is still considered quite a unique example, implementation of a similar system in the Arab world seems to be far-fetched. Some oil exporters are weary that carbon pricing might reduce market share. Others believe they should get a share of the carbon tax to be used for mitigation and adaptation in their own countries.