Carbon credits for farming endorsed

Australia's parliament yesterday endorsed the world's first national scheme that regulates the creation and trade of carbon credits from farming and forestry, complementing government plans to put a price on carbon emissions from mid-2012.

The laws, the first major bills passed by the government with the Greens' support in the Senate since the Greens took the balance of power on 1 July, are a precursor to the carbon-price legislation to be put before parliament later this year.

Land use including agriculture accounts for 23 per cent of Australian emissions. REUTERS