UN’s Emissions Gap Report is a call for a carbon price in Germany – think tank

The United Nations Environmental Programme’s (UNEP) “Emissions Gap Report” on the divergence between the Paris Agreement’s goals and actual carbon emissions around the world is a call for “a sustainable financial reform in Germany” and for the “introduction of an effective CO2 price,” Brigitte Knopf of the think tank MCC says in a press release. “Besides the ‘emissions gap,’ there is a glaring ‘policy gap’,” Knopf says. Earnings made from a carbon price could be used to invest in sustainable infrastructure, lower other taxes, and support low-income households, she argued. “Currently, about half of all emissions in the energy sector occur without being charged,” Knopf explains. Gunnar Luderer of the climate research institute PIK says a “swift turnaround” in global emissions is needed to get anywhere close to reaching the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5-2 degrees Celsius. Ahead of the UN climate conference (COP24) in Poland, “Germany and Europe could show leadership here by aiming for complete greenhouse gas-neutrality by 2050 and by substantially ramping up the 2030 emissions reduction targets,” Luderer says.

Find the report in English here.

See the CLEW articles German env min plans CO2 price concept to boost climate action and German financial sector expects EU standards to boost green finance for background.