DSM CEO: Carbon pricing unlocks private sector potential to address climate urgency

Feike Sijbesma, CEO of Royal DSM, advocates for the adoption of meaningful carbon pricing to drive private sector innovation and investment in clean technology. He notes that while some jurisdictions already use carbon pricing, current levels are often too low to be effective, suggesting that prices between $50-$100 per ton are needed by 2030 to meet Paris Agreement commitments. Sijbesma highlights that Royal DSM uses an internal carbon price of €50 per ton to future-proof growth and encourages governments to combine carbon pricing with net-zero 2050 targets and the removal of fossil fuel subsidies.

• Current global carbon pricing coverage is limited, with existing schemes in approximately 40 countries and over 20 cities, states, and provinces covering about 13 percent of annual global greenhouse gas emissions.
• To achieve Paris Agreement commitments, national carbon prices must rise; levels above €30 per ton are needed for impact, with a target of $50-$100 per ton by 2030.
• Research from a World Bank-led commission indicates that carbon pricing costs are often small compared to other competitiveness factors, and there is no evidence of carbon leakage or job losses at prices between $100–150 per ton, except for some heavily exposed industries.
• Royal DSM utilizes an internal carbon price of €50 per ton of CO2 to integrate emissions into investment and innovation decisions, a practice shared by nearly 1,400 other companies.
• Effective climate policy should integrate carbon pricing with net-zero 2050 targets aligned with a 1.5 degrees Celsius limit, the elimination of fossil fuel subsidies, and demand-side interventions such as product standards and government procurement.

APA

Sijbesma, F. (2019). DSM CEO: Carbon pricing unlocks private sector potential to address climate urgency. We Mean Business Coalition. https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/blog/carbon-pricing-unlocks-the-enormous-private-sector-potential-to-address-climate-urgency/

Chicago

Sijbesma, Feike. DSM CEO: Carbon pricing unlocks private sector potential to address climate urgency. We Mean Business Coalition, 2019. https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/blog/carbon-pricing-unlocks-the-enormous-private-sector-potential-to-address-climate-urgency/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Sijbesma |first1=Feike |title=DSM CEO: Carbon pricing unlocks private sector potential to address climate urgency |publisher=We Mean Business Coalition |date=11 December 2019 |url=https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/blog/carbon-pricing-unlocks-the-enormous-private-sector-potential-to-address-climate-urgency/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{sijbesma2019dsm, author = {Sijbesma, Feike}, title = {{DSM CEO: Carbon pricing unlocks private sector potential to address climate urgency}}, publisher = {We Mean Business Coalition}, year = {2019}, month = dec, url = {https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/blog/carbon-pricing-unlocks-the-enormous-private-sector-potential-to-address-climate-urgency/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }