Recent Climate Summit: Greta Thunberg attacks world leaders as countries unveil green plans

More than 2,000 companies, valued at more than $ 27tn in the stock market, either already have or are planning to set the price of carbon offsets within two years, according to the CDP’s external exposure team.

Internal carbon prices – the equivalent of one tonne of carbon dioxide – can be recycled for investment or research and development by organizations as part of decision-making.

These prices can be speculative, when the money is not spent, but the company calculates additional costs based on the size of the carbon dioxide, the goal of which is to encourage the use of low carbon. Some companies, including Microsoft, require departments to “pay” internally based on the air they produce.

“What you are trying to do is make a different decision,” said Nicolette Bartlett, CDP’s world leader in climate change. Depending on the cost, coverage, and the company’s performance in the calculation, it may or may not be important.

Money should be “essential”, because it represents the internal “tax”, he added.

The CDP says the number of companies that have set the price of carbon in their businesses, or plans to do so within two years, has increased by 80% over five years. They included carvo manufacturer Volvo, Large Oil Shell and Next Dealer, and 226 top 500 companies at market value in the FTSE Global All Cap Index.

The average cost of machinery reported to CDP by companies in 2020 was $ 25 per tonne equivalent to equivalent CO2. This is much lower than the current trading price sold under the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme, which managed to exceed $ 40 this year.

But Bartlett said there was more interest in the same price, not “in terms of decision-making.”

“Companies that use their methods are more important than the amount they use.” The high price of carbon was not guaranteed to change, he added.

Companies that anticipate legal prices on carbon may actually be priced, the CDP found. But most of the companies that might be affected by the law were no longer carbon dioxide prices.

Some EU companies in particular “probably are ignoring the pace of change that this system is making,” Bartlett said.