The New Currency Of Carbon Tonnes In Canada: Hints At $100+

The National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE), a federal Crown corporation, recently released a report entitled, Achieving 2050: A Carbon Pricing Guide for Canada, concluding that "Canada must act decisively now if we are to achieve our 2050 emission-reduction targets." The NRTEE recommends carbon prices, representing the cost of purchasing permits, allowances or offsets for emitting greenhouse gases (GHGs), in the $100 to $200 per tonne range. The NRTEE characterizes such prices as "the least economic cost" by which the federal GHGs targets of 20 per cent below 2006 levels by 2020, and 65 per cent below 2006 levels by 2050 can be met. Without complementary regulations and other measures recommended in the report, the NRTEE estimates that national carbon prices upwards of $300 per tonne would be required post-2025.