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Environment

Chemical, Other Firms Put A Price On Carbon

Report suggests emissions costs of up to $90 per metric ton

by Melody M. Bomgardner
September 18, 2014

For story on companies that are pricing carbon.
Credit: World Bank
National and subnational carbon pricing schemes are proliferating.

In advance of this week’s United Nations climate summit in New York City, the not-for-profit Carbon Disclosure Project has released a report listing global corporations that put a price on the carbon they emit. CDP found that 150 major companies, including 29 based in the U.S., state that they assign an internal price to carbon. At many firms, this so-called shadow price is used to calculate the costs and returns for future capital investments, such as new factories or energy efficiency projects. The CDP list includes the chemical companies Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings, AkzoNobel, BASF, Dow Chemical, DuPont, and Braskem. Few corporations give the figure they use, but the disclosed prices vary from $8.00 to nearly $90 per metric ton of CO2. According to a May report by the World Bank, 39 national and 23 subnational jurisdictions, led by the European Union and China, have already implemented or are scheduled to implement carbon-pricing schemes, including emissions-trading systems and taxes. “From putting a price on carbon to participating in global carbon-pricing markets, companies are expecting, and preparing, for regulation,” CDP’s report says.

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