The Australian Government is establishing an emissions trading scheme as part of an effective framework for meeting the climate change challenge.

  

Background Materials:

Implementation Delay Announced 4 May 2009

The Australian Government announced its decision to delay the introduction of the CPRS until July 2011. This has been done to allow Australia more time to recover from the impact of the current global financial crisis.

For the first year of the Australian CPRS a fixed price for carbon will be set at A$10/tCO2-e. Full trading will start in the 2012-13 year. In 2010 the price caps for the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 years will be set out in regulations.

The price cap will be in place for four years from 2012-13, rising at five per cent in real terms (calculated using the CPI), and the future shape of the permit price cap will be reviewed at the first independent review, which will occur by the mid 2014, in line with the original White Paper timing.

In addition, both categories of polluters will receive an increased quota of free permits ("Global Recession Buffer"):

• Trade exposed heavy polluters will get their free permit quota raised to 95% from 90% and
• Second category polluters will get their free permit quota raised to 70% from 60%.
  These free permit levels will be available for the first 5 years.

The Rudd government is committed to the passage of the ETS legislation by mid 2009.

The Australian Government has also announced the aim to reduce Australia’s emissions by 25% of 2000 levels by 2020 from previously 5 to 15% of 2000 levels. This is however conditional and will depend on international action.

The Australian Governments says that these changes have been made to meet the opposition and to enable it to get the CPRS legislation through the Senate and Parliament before the COP meeting in Copenhagen in December 2009

• More information on the delay is available here: http://www.climatechange.gov.au/whitepaper/measures/index.html

CPRS Draft Legislation Released 10 March 2009

The Exposure draft of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Legislation (The Bill) was released on the 10th of March 2009.

The Bill follows on from the White Paper (released in December 2008) and the Green Paper (released in July 2008). The Bill is the culmination of a process involving broad consultation and the White paper was published having taken into account input from more than one thousand submissions.

The Bill and accompanying fact sheets can be found here

Submissions close on the 14th of April 2009.

Australian Emission trading Scheme Design Finalised

The Australian Government released the White Paper on Monday 15 December 2008. The paper outlines the final design of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme and the medium-term, target range for reducing carbon pollution.

This paper follows from the Green Paper, released in July 2008, which canvassed options on the design on the scheme. It takes into account the outcomes of a broad consultation and input from more than one thousand submissions.

 

For more information refer to the

• Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Home Page
• White paper Index
• Green Paper Index