23 September 2014: Seventy-three countries and 22 states, provinces and cities, alongside over 1,000 business and investors, have signed a statement signaling their support for carbon pricing to help limit global temperature increase to below 2ºC, citing climate change as “one of the greatest global challenges” that “threatens to roll back decades of development and prosperity.”

The Statement on Putting a Price on Carbon was presented during the Private Sector Forum of the UN Climate Summit, on 23 September 2014, in New York, US, where the World Bank, the World Economic Forum and We Mean Business Coalition also announced plans to convene a carbon pricing coalition with leaders from business and government.

In the Statement, countries accounting for 54% of global emissions, including China, the Russian Federation and South Africa, join corporations from a wide-range of sectors to endorse carbon taxes, emission trading systems and other carbon pricing instruments, as appropriate to national circumstances and priorities, as an effective and efficient way to control emissions. In signing the Statement, governments pledge to work with each other, and companies pledge to work with governments, to apply a carbon price through the global economy by: strengthening carbon-pricing policies that help redirect investment toward meeting the climate challenge; implementing existing carbon pricing policies to better manage investment risks and opportunities; and enhancing cooperation to share information, expertise and lessons learned on developing and implementing carbon pricing through “readiness” platforms.

On government action, the signatories acknowledge the roughly 40 national and 20 sub-national jurisdictions, representing 22% of global emissions, that have implemented or plan to implement carbon taxes or emission trading schemes. On corporate initiatives, they recognize growing support for carbon pricing, noting that, as of 2013, over 100 companies worldwide have reported to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) that they use carbon pricing to manage their emissions.

The World Bank proposed a draft version of the statement at the Abu Dhabi Ascent, a preparatory meeting for the UN Climate Summit held in May 2014. [World Bank Press Release] [Putting a Price on Carbon Statement] [IISD RS Story on the Draft Statement at Abu Dhabi Ascent] [IISD RS Coverage of the UN Climate Summit] [IISD RS Story on the Private Sector Forum]