20 Canadian companies committed to tackling climate change joined the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition, a voluntary initiative that brings together leaders from government, business and civil society to support and encourage implementation of carbon pricing around the world. The coalition’s partners from private sector include such renowned companies as Unilever, Ernst & Young, Shell, Nestle, Royal DSM and others.

The move of Canadian companies to join the coalition demonstrates the growing momentum to deliver on country’s national plans to cut emissions to slow down climate change. “To help bring down damaging CO2 emissions, more than 90 countries included moves for putting a price on carbon pollution in their national climate plans for Paris. Now with more companies joining the CPLC, we’re seeing the groundswell of support growing for pricing damaging emissions,” said john Roome, the World Bank group’s Senior Director for Climate Change.

Canadian Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna, who personally worked with companies to raise their awareness towards the costs and potential opportunities of carbon pricing, emphasized on the importance of collaboration between business and governments in terms of tackling climate change to make a real progress.

“We are delighted that major Canadian companies in a wide range of sectors – from finance to forest products, from retail to major airlines – are becoming partners of the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition. We know that carbon pricing is the most efficient way to reduce emissions and stimulate investments in green infrastructure and low-carbon innovation. It is vital that leading companies from all industries become engaged in the transition towards a lower carbon economy,” said Catherine McKenna.

Co-chair of the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition Feike Sijbesma underscored that country’s remarkable job at the levels of the Federal Government, the provinces, and individual companies to focus on carbon pricing has made Canada a true leader in the coalition. “It helps set a standard for others to emulate and expand on,” he added.

Canada’s province British Columbia, for example, established carbon tax in 2008 and now the province levies tax of $21 per ton of CO2 emissions. British Columbia has also become a home to more than 200 profitable  cleantech companies. According to Minister of Environment and Climate Change Glen Murray, together with other subnational governments Ontario is also taking bold action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution. “We applaud the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition’s approach to fostering a prosperous low-carbon economy through activities such as building and sharing a strong case for carbon pricing, mobilizing business support and working with a broad range of partners to make a positive difference,” said Glen Murray.

Source: Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition

by Natalie Myhalnytska

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