Brief overview
Assuming Parliament passes the appropriate legislation, a carbon
permit system will commence on 1 July 2012 in Australia. For the
first three years the scheme will be in a fixed price phase, where
one permit will equal one tonne of carbon emitted. During this
phase, businesses which meet the relevant coverage threshold will
have to purchase (and then surrender) as many permits as they need
in order to cover every tonne of carbon they emit in that
compliance (financial) year. The cost of those permits will be
fixed at $23.00 per tonne in 2012-13, then $24.15 per tonne in
2013-14, and finally $25.40 per tonne in 2014-15.
Fixed permits (those purchased in the fixed price phase) cannot
be traded or banked and must be surrendered at the end of each
compliance year (and new permits purchased at the new compliance
year price). In this period, all businesses that meet the relevant
coverage threshold will be able to purchase as many permits as they
require to
