The Australian Government’s proposals for a carbon pricing policy

2 August 2011

Australia’s Government has put forward a carbon pricing package which is, in some respects, as significant as the European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS). The scheme promises to be a cost-effective way for Australia to meet its national target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, which is an unconditional five per cent reduction compared with the level in 2000 (i.e. five per cent lower than in 1990, when emissions from land-use change are taken into account). It also puts Australia in a position to ratchet up its ambition to a 25 per cent reduction compared with 2000, depending on a future international agreement and other countries’ actions and commitments.