Australian Carbon Tax Plan Becomes Law

Further to our October 19, 2011 post, Australia's carbon tax legislation was passed by the upper house Senate, officially making it the second major economy, after the European Union, to pass such legislation. New Zealand has a similar plan, while China and South Korea are currently working on trading programs and South Africa plans to put a limit on carbon emissions by top polluters. The legislation includes a fixed carbon tax of A$23 a tonne on the top 500 polluters from July 2012, with a move to an emissions trading scheme in July 2015, but provides that emission-intensive export industries will receive 94.5% of carbon permits for free during the initial three years. The $A23/price is almost double the current European cost of between $8.70 and $12.60/tonne. In an effort to spur clean energy investment, the legislation allocates A$13 billion in funding for renewable energy and low emissions projects. The Australian government is hoping that the passage of this