Carbon pollution (greenhouse gas) measurement and reporting

Abstract

Carbon reporting and emissions trading in Australia—both of which, in 2007, seemed unlikely—came into effect with the implementation of mandatory data reporting from July 2008 (Australia) and January 2010 (USA); the onus lies with emitting corporations to determine whether they must report. At the time of writing it is also likely that Australia and the USA will join Europe in placing a price on carbon by 2013.

The background to the Australian regulations will be explored in this paper, along with comparisons made to regulations in other jurisdictions, including the new reporting scheme in the USA.

To date, much of the public discussion in these countries has centred on the financial aspects of a carbon tax or emissions trading scheme; however, significant challenges exist in identifying and quantifying the emissions that the financial community seeks to trade, and business community understanding of the details of greenhouse emissions is not strong.

Case studies from the Australian oil and gas and related industries will be used to explain counter-intuitive aspects of greenhouse gas emissions and their regulation, and to illustrate challenges in emissions measurement and reporting.