UN scientists urge carbon tax to fight global warming

[jpak]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/nov/17/climatechange.carbonemissions

All sources of carbon pollution - from flights to inefficient light bulbs - must become more expensive if the world is to tackle global warming, an influential panel of scientists and government officials will say today.

Putting a price on harmful emissions from goods and services would require a fundamental shift in the world's economy, but "could realise significant mitigation potential in all sectors" according to a report from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The report will be launched today in Valencia by Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, and marks the start of an international effort to agree a worldwide treaty to regulate greenhouse gas output.

The IPCC, which won this year's Nobel peace prize jointly with Al Gore, will confirm it is 90% sure that recent global warming is down to human activity, and warn that the impact of future temperature rise will be severe. It will say action to cut emissions is needed in the coming decades to stop global temperatures rising by as much as 6C by 2100, and that most of the technology needed already exists. Even deep cuts in carbon production would have only a marginal effect on economic growth, the IPCC will say.

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