Australia has legislated for a carbon tax and trading scheme that, when it begins next year, will jump-start the voluntary industry that has largely stalled or failed elsewhere in the world.

With the new law, selling events, spaces and corporate catering as 'carbon neutral' is good marketing for large corporations who want to be en vogue and socially responsible.

Carbon emissions and taxations are one of the topics being discussed at the 2011 United Nations Climate Change Conference under way in South Africa.

Al Jazeera's Andrew Thomas reports from the central highlands of Tasmania.