Govt May Have Numbers For ETS Bill
August 20th, 2008
The Govt may be close to securing the numbers to pass its controversial Emissions Trading Scheme legislation, flagship of its climate change policy. Questioned by NZ Energy & Environment Business Week, Helen Clark said through a spokesperson: “The Govt … has had constructive discussions with other parties.” The spokesperson says the PM could not confirm nor deny any details of those talks. Other Beehive sources report the Govt is now optimistic it can pass the legislation before Parliament rises for the election. This suggests the Govt will give the ETS Bill a high priority.
Climate change issues are high on the agenda for talks between Clark and Aust’s Kevin Rudd who is paying his first visit to NZ since he became PM. Clark is known to want NZ to be ahead of Aust in implementing an emissions trading scheme, believing it will be an advantage to NZ industry to adapt more rapidly to a climate-friendly world. Talks between Clark and Rudd may focus on how the two countries can work on ultimate integration of their respective emissions trading scheme.
Earlier, NZ Energy & Environment Business Week reported the Govt was struggling to get minor party support for the legislation. United Future and the Maori Party have opposed the Bill in its present form and independents Gordon Copeland and Taito Philip Field are also understood to be against it. Both the Greens and NZ First have expressed reservations: the Greens saying the legislation is not strong enough, and NZ First arguing it needs to compensate the elderly and other low-income groups for extra costs.
NZ First leader Winston Peters has maintained an enigmatic silence on the issue, but he did concede in a speech last week to a Bay of Plenty audience: “NZers must now accept the reality that an emissions trading scheme of one form or another will be in place within a year, now that National has committed to an ETS.”
The Green Party has said the ETS legislation has major flaws. It disagreed with the decision to delay the entry of transport into the scheme until 2011 and was also critical of farming being excluded until 2013. The Greens said it was impossible to tell from the legislation whether the key decisions on allocation of free units would be either effective or fair. It contends the ETS scheme as formulated is not a cap and trade system because there is no cap on emissions – units can be imported to meet Kyoto obligation.
There should be targets for domestic emissions reduction specified in the Bill. The Greens also contend it is essential to create a sizeable fund to assist low income households meet higher electricity costs.
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