Wilkinson said the government expects to finish the talks by year end. His comments shed more light on the government’s intention to provide carbon price certainty, which was flagged in its Emissions Reduction Plan released in March.
Some heavy emitters such as oil sands producers say lack of pricing certainty has held them back from making significant investments in emission reduction projects like carbon capture and storage. They are also concerned that costly projects could be a waste of money if carbon pricing is scrapped in future.
“The government will take on to provide some kind of certainty guarantee around the price. If a future government makes a decision to abandon carbon pricing it would be on the hook,” Wilkinson said.
Guaranteeing the value of reducing emissions would be a “game-changer” for investors in capital-intensive projects, RBC Capital Markets said in a note.
Market risk
Canada’s carbon price is…
