First Australian Carbon Abatement Auction

In April 2014, the Australian Federal government released a White Paper outlining the design of the Emissions Reduction Fund ("ERF"), which was covered in the Summer 2014 issue of the Climate Report. The ERF is the cornerstone of the Coalition government's Direct Action Plan, which replaced Australia's carbon price legislation (repealed with effect from July 1, 2014). The government has committed AUD 2.55 billion to the ERF, which the Clean Energy Regulator (the "Regulator") will use to purchase emissions reductions in reverse auctions from registered bidders.

The first of these carbon abatement auctions was held on April 15, 2015, with the Regulator buying approximately 47.3 million tons of emissions reductions at an average price of AUD 13.95 per ton. The total value of the contracts awarded was about AUD 660 million. Forty-three contractors made successful bids at the auction, securing funding for 144 projects running for between three and 10 years. Most of the