The World Bank has revealed the value of global schemes to put a price on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and designed to reduce greenhouse gases blamed for global warming totals US$82 billion.

The report estimates that 25 emission trading schemes and 26 Carbon taxes worldwide are worth US$82 billion, a 56 per cent increase on their 2017 value of $52 billion.

Reuters Newsagency reports these carbon-pricing initiatives cover 11 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, or 20 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Australia is the only country in the world to have removed a Carbon Pricing scheme, when the present conservative Liberal-National government came to power in 2013, it removed the carbon pricing laws that had been introduced by the previous Labor Party government.

The World Bank reports around US$22 billion of the rise in value was from higher prices in the European Union’s Emissions Trading System, the world’s largest carbon market.

Higher carbon tax rates in Alberta and France also contributed to the growth in value, the report said.

Reuters reports that carbon prices are generally still way below the US$40-80 a tonne range thought to be necessary in 2020 to help meet a goal to limit the global average temperature rise.

Currently, around half of the emissions covered by Carbon Pricing Initiatives were priced at less than US$10 a tonne, the report said.

“Looking ahead, this trend is set to continue, as indicated by some of the jurisdictions which are planning carbon price increases,” the World Bank said.

“This includes emerging carbon pricing initiatives, which are launching at relatively low price levels, with the intention of scaling up over time,” it added.

Governments raised around US$33 billion in carbon pricing revenues in 2017, compared with US$22 billion the previous year, the report said.