A GROUP of the world's most eminent scientists and economists have written to the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, congratulating her on the government's carbon pricing legislation.

Sir David King, former chief scientific adviser to British prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, Sir David Hendry, head of Oxford University's Institute for New Economic Thinking and 11 other leading academics from the US, Britain, Norway, Spain and Denmark sent the letter yesterday.

They said addressing climate change was ''one of the greatest and most urgent economic challenges facing the world'' and the carbon tax, moving to an emissions trading scheme, would ''help ensure emission reductions at the lowest possible cost''.

''Evidence demonstrates that market-based solutions such as cap and trade schemes have exceeded expectations in reducing emissions of pollution rapidly and at low cost,'' they wrote.

The legislation is set to pass Parliament by the end of the year but the Coalition has vowed to repeal the carbon pricing laws and instead reduce Australia's carbon dioxide emissions with a 10-year, $10.5 billion scheme of government grants.

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