Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Bill – Discharging Emissions Liability

Our previous articles of 11 March 2009 and 13 March 2009 outline two of the central planks in the Federal Governments Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Bill 2009, namely:

• who is liable for emissions under the Bill?; and

• what is the nature of the instrument to discharge that liability (the Australian emissions unit)?

To continue our series on analysing the draft Bill in detail, below we examine the mechanism by which emitters will discharge their liability for emissions.

Obligation to surrender units

In summary, the Bill imposes an obligation on liable entities to surrender Australian emission units equal to that entity's emissions number for an eligible financial year, in order to avoid a unit shortfall (Clause 132).