Victoria, Queensland and South Australia today confirmed they will work jointly to cut emissions, and revealed they have discussed the prospect of a multi-state trading scheme.
Dramatically overstating emissions projections might make it easy for Australia to meet its 2020 reduction target but the practice may also attract criticism for inadequately contributing to international efforts, says market analyst RepuTex.
Instead of dwelling on the past, Australians should focus on making the nation's existing climate strategy as effective as possible, the head of the UN climate secretariat, Christiana Figueres, said today.
The Federal Government could have secured the carbon cuts that it will get from the first ERF auction at a tenth of the cost by using international offsets.
Australia will have to spend about $25 billion to keep up with what the US and EU have offered as post-2020 carbon reduction targets and will suffer the consequences if it aims lower, according to the Australian Industry Group.
BP has acceded to shareholder demands for greater disclosure of its carbon risks, while an Australian super fund has backed efforts to secure a US investigation of reporting by Chevron and ExxonMobil.