Firms are paying more attention to events unfolding in the Senate regarding the passage CPRS legislation than they are to the climate change talks in Copenhagen next week as a means of gauging work load for their environmental teams.
“I think that the greater impact on Australian law firms is whether the CPRS goes through or not this week,” said Deacons partner Elisa de Wit. “In terms of Copenhagen, the desired outcome is a legally binding agreement post-Kyoto but at the moment it is looking unlikely that that will be achieved.”
However, the real payday will come as soon as the CPRS legislation goes through and with it the creation of an emissions trading scheme. De Wit said that once the legislation passes the Senate, she expects a flood of calls from clients who would be forced into action to make sure they comply with the new laws. At the moment, only major clients are taking steps to make sure they are prepared to do business in an environment where carbon carries a cost.
“The general consensus among our clients seems to be that unless the legislation is in place, we’re not going to turn our minds to what we need to do to comply,” De Wit said. Deacons recently acted for BP in securing carbon credits by Carbon Conscious and De Wit said that although the firm is already getting work in relation to the CPRS she would expect that work volume to “really increase” once the legislation goes through.
The CPRS legislation could be passed this week after Opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull agreed to an amended scheme last week. However, infighting that is plaguing the Liberal party and threatening Turnbull’s leadership could lead to a delayed vote on the scheme.
Another alternative is that the Opposition rejects the scheme providing Kevin Rudd’s government with the option of calling for a double dissolution. In which case, the legislation would be tabled until after a general election.
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