Australia and New Zealand said on Monday they could link their carbon trading schemes as soon as 2015, immediately after Australia's government moved from a fixed carbon tax to the world's second-largest market scheme to cut pollution.

After talks in Durban, South Africa, on the sidelines of global talks on a successor to the Kyoto climate pact, Australia's Minister for Climate Change Greg Combet and his New Zealand counterpart Tim Groser said both countries were aiming to link their two schemes as soon as possible.