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Wednesday 4/3/2009 Page: 5
THE Federal Government's former adviser on climate change, Professor Ross Garnaut, has rejected calls from business groups to delay the start of an emissions trading scheme. That is despite Professor Garnaut still having reservations about the design of the government's carbon cap-and-trade program, including its 2020 emissions reduction target of 15% on 2000 levels if there is a global agreement. "I think there are lots of advantages of bedding our system down (by 2010) so that business is comfortable with it," Professor Garnaut said.
"Then business will know how it works ahead of a time when it starts having to carry a heavier load after 2012, when we must play our full part in what we hope will be a strong global agreement." Last week the Australian Industry Group and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry called on the government to delay the scheme until 2012 to offset the effects of the global financial crisis.
Professor Garnaut was speaking at an Australian Bureau of Agricultural Resource Economics conference in Canberra yesterday discussing the issues surrounding the agriculture sector's inclusion in an emissions trading scheme, which he said should occur "as soon as possible." Currently a decision on agriculture's inclusion in the scheme has been deferred by the Federal Government until 2013, for a possible full inclusion in 2015.
But federal Agriculture Minister Tony Burke said there were still a number of issues relating to agriculture's inclusion, especially monitoring, and the Government had not yet committed to a decision either way. Mr Burke extended one conciliatory offer to the sector yesterday, pledging $32 million in research money for biochar production, a program strongly supported by the Federal Opposition.
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