China set for Carbon Pricing

As Australia moves to scrap its pioneering carbon-pricing scheme, China is expected to have seven pilot pricing systems in place no later than 2015, followed by a national scheme, according to a new survey from The Australian National University. The survey - a joint initiative between the Centre for Climate Economics and Policy in the ANU Crawford School and Beijing-based NGO China Carbon Forum - collected the opinions of 86 China-based carbon pricing experts. The survey found strong confidence that China will introduce carbon-pricing mechanisms in coming years, that the price of emitting carbon will rise over time, and that China will have both a national emissions trading and a carbon tax by the end of the decade. Study co-leader and Director of the Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy , Associate Professor Frank Jotzo said that nationwide emissions trading was set to become a reality in China. "This would quite possibly be in tandem with a carbon tax and would give a boost to China's efforts to limit emissions growth and stop growth in coal use," said Associate Professor Jotzo. "If the world's largest emitter embraces carbon pricing then this will send a strong signal the world over. "A shift to market-based approaches to carbon control by the world's largest emitter is a big deal, especially at a time when Australia is poised to renounce its carbon pricing scheme.