28 August 2012: Greg Combet, Australian Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, and Connie Hedegaard, EU Commissioner for Climate Action, have announced that the Australian emissions trade scheme and the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) will be fully linked by 2018.

Under the linking, carbon credits from both systems can be used for compliance under either trading system. In order to link the systems, modifications will be made to the Australian scheme, including non-implementation of a carbon price floor and application of a sub-limit to use of units under the Kyoto Protocol. Preliminary linking of the systems will take place in 2015, allowing use of EU credits under the Australian scheme, while a full link will take place by 2018 at the latest. [EU Press Release]