Eminent economists propose CO2 emissions price corridors
A panel of the world's most eminent economists have estimated how high carbon prices need to be for the world to avoid climate catastrophe - and put forward ideas on how to spend the money raised.
In Berlin on Monday, a panel of thirteen eminent economists headed by Nobel laureates Lord Nicholas Stern and Joseph Stiglitz released a new report setting out how high carbon prices will have to be in order to stave off global climate chaos and major ecosystem collapses. The first such collapse is already underway, with Australia's vast Great Barrier Reef dying off due to excessive sea surface temperatures.
The panel estimated the range of carbon prices needed in order to keep the global annual average surface air temperature increase below two degrees Celsius compared to the pre-industrial average.
The panel's conclusion: Globally applied carbon prices must reach $40 to $80 per metric tonne of CO2 emissions by 2020 (36 to 72 euros per tonne), and $50 to $100 per tonne by 2030.
Curran Kellaher