The importance of carbon pricing.
Carbon pricing is a powerful tool for emissions reduction and is supported by many economists, corporations, industry groups and other experts. It has been adopted in many countries and is considered to be an essential tool for decarbonising the global economy and giving us a chance of keeping global warming under 2 degrees celsius. Our preferred form of carbon pricing is Carbon Fee and Dividend – it is simple, efficient and elector-friendly. It provides a powerful price signal to enable and support the many different solutions that are needed to slow and eventually reverse global warming. For a variety of reasons Australia is particularly resistant and many have put carbon pricing in the too hard basket. But without it fossil fuels will continue to be supported and will cancel out many of the low carbon solutions being introduced. A broad coalition of actors may be the final piece that enables the government to finally accept the utility of adopting a carbon price.
Our Strategy
For that reason CCL is helping to activate the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition (CPLC) in Australia. This international coalition “brings together leaders from government, business, civil society and academia to support carbon pricing, share experiences and enhance the global, regional, national and sub-national understanding of carbon pricing implementation. The CPLC Secretariat is administered by The World Bank Group”. CCL has been a “partner” from very early on. BHP is a prominent partner in the Coalition and has made major contributions to its work. There are 7 other Australian partners. CCL is working with the Secretariat and the existing Australian partners to build the Coalition and grow its influence on government policy. CCL will be an active partner and assist the process of building understanding and support for a carbon price to underpin the decarbonisation of our economy.
The Campaign
To this end we are committing resources to a campaign to grow and support the Coalition. We invite you to join the campaign and help build this vital piece in the carbon pricing puzzle. It will be guided and resourced by our Grasstops Action Team as part of its wider efforts to get support for carbon pricing and endorsement from community and business leaders.
How you can help
The voices of Citizens’ Climate Lobby members are needed at every level – national, state and local – in our communications with politicians, community leaders, business and industry, the media and our personal networks. We need volunteers to:
• Join our Grasstops Action Team
• Reach out to potential partners in industry, business, academia, State and local government and civil society
• Get endorsements from businesses of all sizes for carbon pricing, preferably for Carbon Fee and Dividend
• Support your local CCL group to build grasstops relationships in your area
• Engage your MP in understanding the CPLC and its unifying potential
• Use local, State and national media to promote CPLC and carbon pricing generally
We are developing the resources you will need to carry out these vital tasks and will provide short training sessions to ensure we all have the necessary skills and knowledge. Contact [email protected] for more information.