AUSTRALIA is among the world’s largest per capita carbon emitters due to its reliance on coal. Today EU and New Zealand already have carbon pricing schemes. The hundreds of companies issued statement supporting the tax and accusing the coalition with the conservative Liberal-National Party of creating uncertainty about its future.

The Australian Government, which is aiming to reduce carbon emissions by 5 per cent of their 2000 levels by 2020, says the tax will boost investment in renewable energy sources. It predicts that the cost of living will rise by 0.7 per cent in the coming year and is spending billions of dollars compensating households and businesses facing higher electricity prices.

The tax, which came into effect, obliges the country’s 294 biggest polluters including power stations, mining companies, airlines and local councils to pay $23 for every tonne of carbon they emit.

Climate target ‘will be missed’. It may already be too late bring climate change under control, scientists warned. New research show that without an early and steep cut in greenhouse gas emissions, global temperatures are not ‘likely’ to remain below the target - 2°C (3.6F) higher than pre-industrial levels. Emission levels will have to drop to 44 billion tonnes by 2020.

Climate deal after politicians get a few time to save the world. The Kyoto Protocol, which set down legally binding emissions cuts by rich countries. The US never ratified it and it did not involve any greenhouse gas cuts from major economies such as China. Developing countries have been determined to maintain the Kyoto Protocol as it is the only legally binding deal on climate the world has. The Europe bloc came to Durban demanding that countries agree to negotiate a new climate treaty covering every one, in return for the EU signing up to a second commitment period under Kyoto.

It’s certainly being spun that way by Europe. China and India to sign up to its road map. The UN process for dealing with climate change is still alive as a result of the deal, but many green groups warn that the ambition for cutting emissions both before 2020 and after wards, when the new treaty would come into force, is not nearly enough. There has been welcome for the road map from business keen for certainty ob investing in a low-carbon economy.

The UN climate talks were brought back from the brink of collapse and nations agreed to sign up to a new global deal to curb carbon emissions. Final agreement on the exact terms of the treaty its legal status and ambition has been deferred until 2015 and it will come into force only after 2020.

Environmental groups criticised the outcome as lacking ambition, but it is the first time that the world’s big three emitters the US, China and India have all accepted a legally enforceable agreement.

However, some criticised the deal as far too weak, pointing to the absence of emissions targets from now until 2020. Other elements of the package included an agreement on setting up a new Green Climate Fund, for climate aid to poor countries, but without any suggested funding mechanism and an intention to halt deforestation, but again no targets on how quickly this might come from. Emissions must fall to 20bn by 2050 to keep warning below 2C.

British politician Gordon Brown said “The west must learn from Doha and use transfers of money to kick start the Copenhagen talks.”