LONDON (Reuters) – Chile’s energy minister and Canada’s environment minister are among signatories to a letter calling for COP26 negotiators to put a true price on carbon emissions, a group overseen by the World Bank said on Monday.
World leaders began arriving on Monday at the U.N. COP26 conference, seen as critical to averting the most disastrous effects of climate change in the future. Their challenge was made even more daunting by the failure of major industrial nations to agree ambitious new commitments.
The COP26 negotiations must mean more than “a worthy communique full of vague pledges”, the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition said in the letter.
“There will be very little chance for success in combating climate change if countries and companies do not collaborate with each other,” Chilean Energy Minister Juan Carlos Jobet, who is also co-chair of the CPLC, said in a statement.
“The most cost-efficient way to do it is through carbon pricing.”
Other signatories to the letter include Lord Barker of Battle, the executive chairman of En+, and Thomas-Olivier Leautier, chief economist at Electricite de France.
Exxon Mobil Corp called last week for a transparent carbon price.
(Reporting by Carolyn Cohn; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
