What benefits will Carbon Trading bring?

The benefits to the general community of trading emission reduction/offset certificates in a market include: the reduction in overall cost of meeting emission reduction targets, as mentioned above;
the progressively improved definition of a "price" for carbon, particularly as the market becomes more liquid and active, and assuming that all carbon certificate products are fungible, meaning that they are equivalent ways of addressing emission reduction;
the opportunity to generate income from activities that previously attracted no additional revenue, such as investment in emission reduction, renewable energy generation, greenhouse friendly fuels and carbon sequestration; the ability to use revenue from carbon sequestration to help fund additional planting of trees and other vegetation, for benefits such as salinity amelioration, biodiversity enhancement, conversion to greenhouse gas friendly fuels and energy, and employment and wealth creation in rural areas.