Canadian Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault urged countries around the world to expand carbon pricing in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“We call on more countries around the world to put a price on pollution,” Guilbeault said at an event held yesterday as part of the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as "COP27", held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

Minister Guilbeault, a prominent environmental expert, seeks to persuade as many countries as possible to implement carbon pricing.

Currently, about 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions are subject to carbon pricing. However, the "Global Carbon Pricing Challenge" / le Défi mondial sur la tarification du carbone, an initiative launched by Canada and Chile from Sharm El Sheikh yesterday, aims to raise this percentage to 60% by 2030.

Eight other countries and the European Commission, the executive authority of the European Union, also signed this "Global Challenge." However, all of them either have a carbon pricing system or are preparing one.

The Canadian carbon pricing system includes federal and provincial policies and covers more than 80% of total emissions in Canada, but with varying costs per metric ton.

The idea behind the "Global Carbon Pricing Challenge" is similar to that which led to the creation of the "Powering Past Coal Alliance" (PPCA) aimed at ending the use of coal as an electricity source.

It is also noted that Canada and the United Kingdom launched that alliance in November 2017 during the United Nations Climate Change Conference, "COP23," which was organized by the Republic of Fiji Islands and held in Bonn, Germany.

Similarly, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had raised the idea of persuading other countries to adopt a carbon tax during negotiations held a year ago at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, "COP26," in Glasgow, United Kingdom. However, the global percentage of emissions subject to carbon pricing has not changed since then.