Two of the world's leading environmental lawyers say Australia must put a price on carbon or risk being left behind in the new green economy. Angela Priestley reports

Two of the world's leading environmental lawyers say Australia must put a price on carbon or risk being left behind in the new green economy. Angela Priestley reportsThe green economy has recently been tagged as the "single biggest business opportunity of the 21^st Century" by key global business leaders.But given the political wrangling going on regarding the Gillard Government's attempt to put a price on carbon in 2011 and the extensive media coverage on those against the proposal, it seems difficult to believe that, locally, Australian businesses are seeing the opportunity.Still, a number of Australian businesses are on board to explore the prospects of the green economy including Telstra, AGL Origin, Qantas and Lend Lease. They join global giants like GE in seeking to tap the potential lurking in green business initiatives.According to Anthony Hobley, partner and global head of the Norton Rose Climate Change and Carbon Finance practice, the green economy will continue to build globally in the not-too-distant future, with or without Australia on board.Hobley moved his practice to Sydney from London in early 2010 off the idea that Australia would soon be implementing the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS). He saw some significant opportunity in Australia at the time, and sought to apply his UK experience to the market - including his position as the director of legal policy for Climate Change Capital.The CPRS never passed the Senate. But Hobley believes the Gillard Government's proposal to put a price on carbon could provide a new opportunity to kick-start Australia's green economy and open the door for businesses to seek new investment opportunities.But should the Government's latest attempt fail, Hobley believes Australia's prospects for playing a role in the green economy later on will be significantly jeopardised. And, added Hobley, the more a carbon price is delayed, the more expensive it will get for Australia."It's clear that there are strong developments in low carbon and green economy policies and regulation across the whole of the Asia Pacific, particularly in China, but also in Korea and places like Singapore, India and Indonesia," he said."What you're seeing internationally in terms of sustainability is this move away from something that's purely regulated to a market based approach where clients are actually looking for the investment opportunities."Hobley noted that given governments globally are not in a position financially to fund a transition to a low carbon economy, any significant level of financing must come from the private sector."If they want the private sector to make that investment then they have to got to give them policy and regulatory certainty and that's something that politicians I don't always think understand," said Hobley.Baker & McKenzie's global head of Environmental Markets and Climate Change practice, Martijn Wilder, also believes businesses need policy and regulatory certainty in order to jump aboard Australia's place in the green economy.He said that Australia risks being significantly disadvantaged if it delays pricing carbon any further. "The longer we leave it the more disadvantaged we'll be. Particularly when you look at China's Five Year Energy Plan and at what other countries like Korea are doing," he said.Wilder added that with right planning, Australia could present itself as an opportune place for green investment and the development of clean technologies. "It doesn't have to be expensive. It's about good constant evolution," he said.Already, Australia has lost a number of projects and new technologies to overseas markets due to an inability to find investors and support locally.Both Wilder and Hobley point to the example of Suntech Power to demonstrate how Australia has, and may continue, to miss out on significant investment opportunities without the right political and market support. Suntech Power Dr Shi Zhengrong took his solar panelling technology from Australia to China after failing to secure interest in the project locally.Suntech Power is now the world's largest producer of solar panels and distributes to more than 80 countries worldwide. Dr Zhengrong has since been labelled by Time as the world's first "green" billionaire.According to Wilder, "People with land restoration projects and new technologies are not getting attention because there is no price on carbon."As for the lawyers in the area, Wilder and Hobley both state that it takes a particular element of passion in order to persist through constant change in environmental law, especially when the debate regarding a price on carbon is as politicised as it is in Australia."Any area of practice that is A, partly underpinned by regulation and B, partly affected by politics and C, about significant change, is always going to be fairly volatile," said Wilder. "At the moment the market is still unsure about what's going to happen in Australia ... that's a tough market to be in."