Summaries - Australian Financial Review
Tuesday 30/12/2008 Page: 64
The Federal Government's moves to implement an emissions trading scheme is a necessary change of direction from the previous Government given the threat climate change poses not only to icons such as the Great Barrier Reef and Kakadu National Park, but to food production and water supplies.
Although the announced reduction targets have been criticised by environmental groups, and Citigroup has said the scheme will merely keep Australia on track to meet the targets Australia agreed to under the Kyoto Protocol, it is at least a start, and in keeping with an expected change of direction in the US under president Barack Obama. The trading of permits will occur through the Australian Securities Exchange as well as banks and other institutions and will be regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, providing new opportunities for the finance industry.
Elsewhere, campaigners in the US are urging the incoming US president to adopt Al Gore's proposal for a global carbon, which, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, would impose a tax of around $72 per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent, compared to the expected starting price of $23 to $32 a tonne under the Australian Government's scheme.
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