CHINA GETS A CARBON TAX

THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT has announced that it will have a national emissions trading scheme at the same time as Australia, reports Reuters. China will pilot six emissions trading schemes by 2013, and set up a national trading platform by 2015, according to Xie Zhenhua, vice-minister of China's economic planner the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). The official Xinhua news agency said on Sunday that, like Australia, China will pilot a carbon trading scheme and gradually build a market for emissions trading to meet pollution goals and fight climate change. To get started, Beijing will force power-intensive industries to pay higher electricity tariffs than other industries. Beijing will also encourage energy conservation by improving laws, regulation and taxation policies and asking financial groups to fund low-carbon emission projects. The Government will also discourage 'excessive growth' in power-intensive sectors. Reuters says companies and governments around the world are turning to emissions trading as a way to combat climate change and join a world carbon market worth $142 billion last year.