Victoria will become home to the national Carbon Market Institute thanks to a $3.5 million contribution from the Brumby Labor Government.
Financial Services Minister John Lenders said the new initiative would give Melbourne the advantage to become a major centre for carbon market business in the Asia-Pacific region.
Speaking at Carbon Expo Australasia 2010 today, Mr Lenders said the funding would be used to establish a national Carbon Market Institute to help Australian businesses with the implementation of climate-related markets.
“The Brumby Labor Government is leading Australia in tackling climate change and helping businesses prepare for a carbon constrained future,” Mr Lenders said.
“The new institute will help businesses develop and implement new ways to cut their carbon emissions effectively.
“By taking action now we are positioning Victorian industry to capitalize on the sustainable opportunities being created as the world prepares for the realities of climate change. While we support an emissions trading scheme we recognize that it is just one of a number of mechanisms that Australia may eventually adopt to facilitate carbon reduction.
“Accordingly the Institute will stand ready to help industry capture the opportunities and manage the liabilities, whatever climate change policies are eventually passed by the Commonwealth Parliament.”
The Institute will be an independent, not for profit organisation established in partnership with the Asia-Pacific Emissions Trading Forum. It will be located in VECCI’s East Melbourne headquarters.
It will provide Australian industry with business networking, research and market analysis, education and training, professional standards and accreditation and international engagement. It will also boost local jobs.
“We are home to the majority of Australian companies that will need to comply with a price on carbon and we are also home of the Australian Energy Market Operator and a centre for Australian energy markets,” Mr Lenders said.
Mr Lenders said the new Institute would build further on Victoria’s leadership in climate change action.
“The Victorian Climate Change White Paper launched earlier this year puts us at the forefront of Australian action to combat global warming and sets a new target to cut greenhouse emissions by at least 20 per cent by 2020,” he said.
