Falling prices for emission certificates threaten climate targets

The declining prices for emission certificates in the Canadian province of Alberta threaten to undermine efforts to reduce emissions from the oil industry, the country’s largest source of greenhouse gases. According to Albert Ho, the head of the TIER division at Carbon Assessors, a price tracker, credits and offsets in Alberta’s carbon market are currently trading at about 40 Canadian dollars per ton. This is only half of the effective industrial carbon tax price of 80 Canadian dollars per ton. Thus, the low prices for emission certificates could pose a significant challenge, as they may reduce the incentive for companies to lower their emissions. Ho pointed out that a price recovery is necessary to meet climate goals and to use the province’s oil reserves more sustainably.