Legislators in Canada, the US and Mexico are all in the process of defining laws that will eventually see the development of carbon markets across the continent. This legislation will ultimately move the engine of our economies away from traditional fossil fuels and toward cleaner forms of energy in an attempt to mitigate climate change. Clearly, a transformation of this magnitude will have profound economic impacts and will invariably create both big winners and big losers.

Understandably, potential winners and losers have a vested interest in lobbying for and against such change.  Since June, when the Waxman-Markey bill passed a vote in the US House of Representatives and cleared its first legislative hurdle, this is exactly what has ensued. Lobbyists on both sides of the equation have been developing economic impact predictions to support their case and cause.

Regardless of the motive behind these predictions and the ranges in the values predicted, smart money will be on accepting that there will be a future price on a tonne of carbon and it will likely be within the estimates presently being predicted.

Since June, a number of organizations including the US Energy Information Administration, the Congressional Budget Office, and the US EPA have all made predictions on the future price of carbon. Predictions range between $13 and $26 per tonne in 2015; between $17 and $93 per tonne in 2020; and between $40 and $190 per tonne in 2030.

Obviously, the future cost of a tonne of carbon is uncertain and will ultimately be determined by a wide number of variables and factors. However, forward-thinking businesses should make their own estimates (likely within these ranges) and ensure that the cost of carbon is included in capital decisions, acquisitions, divestitures, compliance plans and corporate climate change strategies.

By Hewitt Roberts, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)