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Major oil and gas companies - BG Group plc, BP plc, Eni SpA, Royal Dutch Shell plc, Statoil ASA and Total SA - have called on governments around the world and to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to introduce carbon pricing systems and create clear, stable, ambitious policy frameworks that could eventually connect national systems.
The six companies set out their position in a joint letter from their chief executives to the UNFCCC Executive Secretary and the President of the COP21. This comes ahead of the UNFCCC’s COP21 climate meetings in Paris this December.
The chief executives write: “Our industry faces a challenge: we need to meet greater energy demand with less CO2. We are ready to meet that challenge and we are prepared to play our part. We firmly believe that carbon pricing will discourage high carbon options and reduce uncertainty that will help stimulate investments in the right low carbon technologies and the right resources at the right pace.
"We now need governments around the world to provide us with this framework and we believe our presence at the table will be helpful in designing an approach that will be both practical and deliverable.”
The chief executives also sent an additional letter that has been published in newspapers, setting out this position on carbon pricing and also the role that natural gas can play in reducing carbon emissions.
Mark Kenber, ceo of The Climate Group, the international non-profit, commented: “This is a symbolic moment, and demonstrates an important if not universal shift. It reflects a growing realisation within influential sectors of the fossil fuel industry of a need to adapt to both market and climate realities.
“It helps increase the likelihood of a positive outcome at COP21 by sending a signal to the wider business community, and showing that the direction of travel is towards comprehensive and effective regimes regulating carbon emissions."
Picture credit: © Mopic | Dreamstime.com - Carbon Dioxide Emissions Concept Photo
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