Top oil firms ask for carbon pricing

Six top oil and gas firms have issued a statement asking for both the UN and international governments to introduce a global price on carbon in order to control climate-warming emissions.

Chief executives from Shell, BP, Eni, Total, Statoil and the BG Group made this call during UN climate talks in Bonn. This suggests that large oil companies wish to be a part of the larger climate conversation and on the new global climate deal.

“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,” the key executives of the six companies said.

The companies wanted for carbon markets to be opened around the world and for all of them to be connected with one another. Governments around the world would then need to implement “carbon pricing policy frameworks,” which could provide direction for energy companies. These carbon markets would dictate the amount of carbon emitted by a company and the trade of emission permits.