new guys, page-5

By ratifying Kyoto Australia will have to have a cap and trade system in place..under Howard this was to come in by 2012..now that the opposition is in power expect changes much sooner... now where does that put INT in the long run Mr Melbourne University?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emissions_trading

Australia
On 4th June 2007, Prime Minister John Howard announced a new Australian Carbon Trading Scheme to be introduced by the year 2012 but has been accused by the opposition that it is "too little, too late." [17]

The New South Wales (NSW) state government has set up the NSW Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme to reduce emissions from the electricity sector by requiring electricity generators and large users to purchase NSW Greenhouse Abatement Certificates (NGACs) to offset a fraction of their GHG emissions. This has resulted in the rollout of free energy efficient compact fluorescent lightbulbs and other energy efficiency measures in NSW funded by the credits generated by these measures. The scheme set up by the NSW government has enabled the creation and trading of verifiable greenhouse abatement certificates. NGACs are generated and can be purchased from numerous companies.



Kyoto Protocol
The Kyoto Protocol is a 1997 international treaty which came into force in 2005, which binds most developed nations to a cap and trade system for the six major greenhouse gasses[18]. (The United States is the only developed nation under Annex I which has not ratified and therefore is not bound by it.) Emission quotas were agreed by each participating country, with the intention of reducing their overall emissions to 1990 levels by the end of 2012. Under the treaty, for the 5-year compliance period from 2008 until 2012[19], nations that emit less than their quota will be able to sell emissions credits to nations that exceed their quota.