OTTAWA — Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney told a Senate committee on Wednesday that the federal carbon tax has “served a purpose up until now” and called on anyone who would want to scrap it to come up with a “credible and predictable” alternative.

Carney, who serves as the United Nations’ Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance, was invited as a witness to study Bill S-243, which would require banks and other federal regulated entities to “mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change.”