“If true costs are the problem, then true prices are the solution”

In June 2019 we published the vision paper A roadmap for true pricing. In the context of the global commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), True Price sets out a vision on how to systematically address issues such as underpayment, loss of biodiversity and carbon emissions within today’s economic system.

With true price we refer to the market price plus the unpaid external costs. True pricing helps address all costs made in the production of goods and services by making hidden costs transparent. For instance, those costs that are paid by communities living next to a polluting factory, or the future generation that will have to deal with the increasingly disrupting effects of climate change.

This vision paper proposes a roadmap to realize a sustainable economy with true pricing at its core. It explains how true pricing can transform our economic system in three phases: first by creating transparency, second by enabling the remediation of hidden costs and finally by creating a level playing field. Concrete starting points are presented for businesses, investors, governments and consumers on how to start with true pricing. In addition, the paper argues for a collective effort to embrace a true pricing standard.

This true price vision paper is the first publication in a series of open source publications on true pricing. Check out our latest publications, including the normative foundation of true pricing and other methodology documents: