UN report recommends 10-fold increase in the current price of carbon credits

Carbon markets, in which a country, company or other actor pays for CO2 absorption projects to offset its emissions, currently offer an average of $10 per tonne of carbon equivalent, but that amount should be $100 to harness the potential of least developed countries in the fight against climate change.

This is according to the report published on Monday by the UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), according to which the current price causes the 45 least developed countries (33 in Africa, 11 in Asia-Pacific and Haiti) to only take advantage of 2% of their absorption potential for carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. “It is crucial to establish a viable carbon market price,” said the secretary general of UNCTAD, Costa Rican Rebeca Grynspan, when presenting the report, who assured that if the price of 10 dollars per ton is maintained, “97% of the mitigation potential of the least developed countries will continue to be untapped.”

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