Under Australia’s new carbon pollution reduction scheme, companies will be allowed to buy and import an unlimited number of Certified Emissions Reductions (CERs), credits approved and issued by the United Nations against investments in developing countries that reduce carbon emissions under the Kyoto Protocol.

The government said it would allow the market to set the price of carbon permits, but to ensure price stability it will cap the price at a maximum A$40 ($27) a tonne, rising five percent a year above inflation for four years.