15 July 2011 Volume: 21 Issue: 13 North Korea's ... - Eureka Street

Volume 21 Issue: 1315 July 2011trading scheme. It provides a concrete, stable base from which a market can be built. (It isironic that traditionally pro-market Liberals would be so resistant to a market-basedmechanism for addressing this problem.)An emissions trading scheme is all but inevitable anyway. In case anyone has forgotten,Australia is a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol, which specifies this as one of the mechanismsfor reducing greenhouse gases.The first commitment period for this international agreement will expire next year. Whileour politicians and pundits quibble over the carbon price package, the rest of the world isalready operationalising its commitments. For instance, the European Union EmissionsTrading Scheme is now in its second trading period since its 2005 launch.Embarrassingly, while the EU made a pre-Copenhagen commitment of a 20 per cent cut on1990 levels by the year 2020, the Australian Government insists that it will not raise its 5 percent cut on 2000 levels until it is satisfied with the credibility of ‘both the specific targets ofadvanced economies and the verifiable emissions reduction actions of China and India.’Yet the Clean Development Mechanism, another Kyoto Protocol instrument, is being takenup significantly by these very countries. Once used as examples of inaction, China and Indiaaccount for the largest proportion of CDM-registered emissions reduction projects, throughwhich they earn certified emission reduction (CER) credits that can be traded and sold.In other words, Gillard’s greatest challenge in selling the carbon scheme is in normalising itin the public mind. She needs to overcome the island mentality that is hijacking debate on thispolicy.Market-based climate action is not at all radical or catastrophic when seen in the light ofmovements in the international community. We need to be part of this broader shift.Otherwise, we may be facing a new wave of ‘cultural cringe’.©2011 EurekaStreet.com.au 26