ABC of Carbon Weekly Blog - E is for Emissions Trading

A scheme that allows companies to either reduce emissions of greenhouse gases or pay for the right to pollute (with money paid being used to reduce emissions elsewhere, including investments in tree planting or renewable energy). Many private emissions or carbon trading schemes operate voluntarily in Australia (see ACX and FEX) and major international trading goes on in Europe and through the Chicago Climate Exchange (see CCX). Legislation providing the first major plank of Australia.s official emissions trading scheme was introduced in Parliament on 15 August 2007. The then Minister for Environment and Water Resources, Malcolm Turnbull, (now the Leader of the Coalition Opposition) said the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Bill 2007 allowed for a single, national reporting framework for reporting greenhouse gas emissions and abatement actions by corporations. This was planned to get underway by 1 July 2008, but trading not to commence until 2010, at the earliest. Registration and reporting obligations will be progressively phased in over three years, to give companies time to prepare for the scheme, with first reports due in October 2009. Mr Turnbull said this legislation 'clearly demonstrated the Australian government's commitment to an effective climate change response and the delivery of an efficient energy market'. A change of Government in December 2007 saw changes in approach and a much more complex Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme was introduce after a Green Paper and White Paper process. Originally planned by the Rudd Government to start in 2010, on 4 May 2009 the Government announced it would delay the scheme until 1 July 2011, taking into account the economic climate and opposition to the scheme's costs for affected industries.