Gillard presents carbon tax bill

13 September 2011 Last updated at 07:53 GMT The carbon tax proposals have already led to street protests Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has presented her bill for a controversial carbon tax to parliament.

The legislation would force about 500 of the biggest polluters to pay for each tonne of carbon dioxide they emit.

The tax is central to the government's strategy to combat climate change, but the opposition say it will cause job losses and raise the cost of living.

Thousands of Australians have protested against the bill, accusing Ms Gillard of lying before last year's election.

Ms Gillard made a pledge during last year's federal election not to introduce a carbon tax.

The proposed tax was drawn up after Ms Gillard failed to win an overall majority in parliament at the polls and had to rely on the support of the Australian Greens.

The bills will undergo a month of consideration before a final vote on 12 October.

Cheers and howls

Addressing the House of Representatives, Ms Gillard said her task and that of parliament was to lead the country through a world undergoing change.

"The jobs of the future are clean energy jobs. Employment is projected to grow strongly with a carbon price," she said, adding that 1.6 million jobs would be created in the next eight years.

Continue reading the main story To start on 1 July 2012500 companies affectedAgriculture, forestry and land are exemptCompensation for pollutersMarket-based trading scheme kicks in from 2015Target to cut 159m tonnes of CO2 by 2020"Today we move from words to deeds. This parliament is going to get this done," she said, to cheers and howls in parliament.

Australia's 500 heaviest polluters will pay A$23 (£15; $24) for each tonne of carbon emissions, and households will be compensated through tax cuts or welfare increases for any increased costs.

It will be introduced on 1 July next year, and will then evolve into an emissions trading scheme three years later.

Analysts say no issue in Australian politics is generating more passion right now than climate change.

Supporters of the carbon scheme believe a country that is one of the world's worst-per-capita emitters of greenhouse gases is finally on the road to environmental salvation.

However, thousands of people have protested at rallies across the nation against the levy. Many believe it will wreck Australia's coal-dependent economy, drive up the cost of living for families and force thousands out of work.

The coalition has vowed to oppose the legislation, although with support from the key independents and the Greens the 18 carbon bills are expected to be passed.

The conservative opposition leader has promised to ditch the tax if he wins office.

Tony Abbott said on Tuesday that the government had "no mandate" to "ram the bill through".

"It's never disruptive to get rid of a bad tax. It's always advantageous to reduce business costs. [Manufacturers] don't want this tax, and if they get it they will want to be rid of it as quickly as they possibly can," he told the ABC.

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Low carbon companies 'outperform'

14 September 2011 Last updated at 17:15 GMT Almost half of the companies surveyed reported a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions Companies that implement policies to reduce carbon emissions perform better on the stock market compared with those that do not, a survey suggests.

The annual Carbon Disclosure Project also found that, for the first time, the majority of the world's largest corporations incorporate climate change action in their business strategies.

Philips Electronics and carmakers BMW and Honda performed particularly well.

Amazon and Apple were among the firms that did not disclose information.

The report, written by PriceWaterhouse Coopers, analysed data provided by 396 of the world's biggest listed companies, and found climate change was central to the business plans of 68% of the respondents, up from 48% last year.

There was also a big increase in the number of companies reporting reduced greenhouse gas emissions - 45% compared with 19% a year earlier.

Short payback

"The improved financial performance of companies with high carbon performance is a clear indicator that it makes good business sense to manage and reduce carbon emissions," said Paul Simpson, chief executive of the CDP.

"This is a win win for business - the short-term return on investments many emissions reducing activities have can help increase profitability."

Almost 60% of reported actions to reduce emissions saw a payback of three years or less, the survey found.

Ranking companies in terms of the amount of information they disclosed and their performance in cutting carbon emissions, Philips, BMW and Honda took the top three places.

Retailer Tesco, financial firms Bank of America and Westpac, healthcare group Bayer and technology companies Cisco, SAP and Sony made up the rest of the top 10.

Utilities was the best performing sector in terms of climate change performance, with the energy sector performing poorly.

Other companies that did not respond to the survey include energy group Rosneft, Warren Buffett's investment group Berkshire Hathaway and Bank of China.

Cutting costs

An increasing number of companies are not only realising the benefits of reducing their carbon emissions, but are looking to incorporate the cost and benefits of their environmental impact into their financial accounts.

Earlier this year, sportswear group Puma became the world's first major corporation to publish details of the cost of its impact on the environment, and other will soon follow.

Driving this move is the understanding that companies can not only cut costs and improve their reputation by reducing their impact on the environment, but also mitigate against future costs in the form of regulatory instruments such as pollution taxes and higher insurance premiums.

Those companies that are taking action to reduce their impact now believe they can gain a competitive advantage over their rivals.

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