Australian environmental groups on Wednesday called for a national carbon price to be implemented by 2012.

A second meeting of the federal government's multi-party climate change committee, set up to discuss the prospect of an Australian carbon tax, will take place on Wednesday.

Coincide with the talks, the Southern Cross Climate Coalition ( SCCC) released a statement to call for a national carbon pollution limit and price to be legislated for in 2011, and to bring emissions levels down by 2013.

Australia's domestic pollution levels will then be declining by 2013 and are able to be reduced by at least 25 percent by 2020 from 1990 levels, the statement said.

The coalition also wants better support for low-income and climate-vulnerable households, improved energy efficiency programs and the identification of clean, green industry development opportunities.

Ahead of Wednesday's climate change meeting, Professor Ross Garnaut, a committee member and climate change expert, called on Australian scholars to lead the greenhouse policy debate "so it is not derailed again by vested interests and squabbles over policy detail".