President of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Kamel Ben-Nasser, speaking at the international investment forum "Oil and Gas of Turkmenistan-2022", formulated the priority measures necessary to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Among them is the establishment of carbon pricing mechanisms.

The price of carbon (the method that is the most effective way for countries to prevent global warming) is the cost applied to carbon pollution to induce pollutants to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases they emit into the atmosphere: it usually takes the form of either a carbon tax or the requirement to purchase emission permits, commonly known as carbon trading.

The High Level Commission on Carbon Prices has calculated that cost-effective emission reductions in line with the Paris Agreement's temperature targets require carbon prices of at least $40-80 per tonne CO2 by 2020 and $50-100 per tonne CO2 by 2030 year.

The appropriate carbon price will be determined by local conditions, the role to be played by the carbon pricing tool, and the impact of climate policy and technological advances in the particular country.

There are two main approaches to carbon pricing, he says: emissions trading systems and carbon taxes. Countries should also consider reviewing their fossil fuel subsidies in tandem with developing carbon pricing approaches.

A simulation analysis of the Central Asian power systems shows that the region could cut operating costs by $6.4 billion over the next 10 years.

As Kamel Ben-Nasser noted, according to studies, if the oil and gas industry reduces CO2 emissions, the world community will be able to reduce carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere by 5.5 gigatons.

– We need to learn how to measure- said the head of SPE, focusing on the measurement of methane emissions. In this regard, he invited representatives of Turkmenistan to active cooperation in this area.

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