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Gumley, Wayne; Stoianoff, Natalie --- "Behavior Modifying Taxes, Emissions Trading and Tax Expenditure Reform: Market-based Responses to Climate Change in Australia" [2011] ELECD 731; in Cullen, Richard; VanderWolk, Jefferson; Xu, Yan (eds), "Green Taxation in East Asia" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2011)

Book Title: Green Taxation in East Asia

Editor(s): Cullen, Richard; VanderWolk, Jefferson; Xu, Yan

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781849803007

Section: Chapter 8

Section Title: Behavior Modifying Taxes, Emissions Trading and Tax Expenditure Reform: Market-based Responses to Climate Change in Australia

Author(s): Gumley, Wayne; Stoianoff, Natalie

Number of pages: 40

Extract:

8. Behavior modifying taxes, emissions
trading and tax expenditure reform:
market-based responses to climate
change in Australia
Wayne Gumley and Natalie Stoianoff

1. INTRODUCTION

This chapter will consider recent regulatory responses to climate change in
Australia with a view to providing guidance for policy makers in the East
Asia region. In particular, it will review the reasoning behind the choice of
emissions trading ahead of other market-based instruments such as behav-
ior modifying taxes and tax expenditure reform. It will firstly describe the
key international agreements on climate change. Secondly, it will provide a
review of the key literature in support of market-based instruments includ-
ing the relative merits of carbon taxes and emissions trading. Thirdly,
the chapter will review the history of regulatory responses in Australia
at both Federal and State government levels, leading up to and including
the proposed Australian emissions trading scheme, known as the Carbon
Pollution Reduction Scheme (the CPRS). Fourthly, the chapter will
review features of the underlying taxation system which constitute signifi-
cant "barriers to change" which are very likely to undermine the intended
objectives of the CPRS. The chapter concludes with some suggestions for
emerging economies of the East Asia region on how taxation rules can be
integrated with climate change objectives.


2. INTERNATIONAL RESPONSES TO CLIMATE
CHANGE

The first major international agreement on climate change was the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC),



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which was opened for signature at the ...