Isra-Mart srl: Australia and New Zealand 'could link for emissions trading'

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The Antipodean neighbours will set up a working group to consider establishing a combined trading platform “at an appropriate point in the future”, says Australia’s Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

New Zealand has operated an ETS since 2000. Gillard's minority Labor government is battling political opponents in a bid to introduce a carbon price mechanism from July 2012, paving the way for emissions trading.

"We love Kiwis, they're family for us. But I think Australians would be asking themselves, if the Kiwis had the guts to go and price carbon, why can't we?" Gillard told a joint press conference with John Key, New Zealand’s Prime Minister.

Both governments believe expanding and linking global markets provides the most cost-effective approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, adds Gillard.

Key says that allowing carbon credits to be traded across the Tasman Sea makes sense.

"Our economies are very closely linked and if we can work together on this problem of climate change, that's a good thing," Key says.