In 2010 the Japanese Government made substantial commitments to the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. In particular it proposed a 25% reduction on 1990 levels by 2020 and an 80% reduction by 2050. At the forefront of this policy was to be an additional (carbon) tax on fossil fuels,...

As part of its response to climate change the 1997 Kyoto Protocol envisages a global scheme with national emissions trading schemes (“ETS”) linked to form an international market for carbon. In 2010 the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (“TMG”) established an ETS. This regime has some unique...

Global initiatives to reduce emissions can be categorised as either regulatory measures or measures that seek to place a price on carbon. Most jurisdictions employ a combination of the two with pricing measures generally preferred by economists. Where carbon is priced this is typically achieved...

In 2005 the EU’s ETS became the first mandatory scheme to be implemented. The 2012 Australian ETS was based on the EU precedent and the plan, before the Australian ETS was repealed, had been to link the two regimes. The EU scheme suffered a serious setback early on when the market price for EU...