Need for Aust And NZ To Co-Ordinate ETS Policies
February 11th, 2009
Agriculture Minister David Carter believes Aust and NZ should co-ordinate their policies on emissions trading schemes. At their first bilateral meeting he told his Aust counterpart Tony Burke the two countries should work closely on implementing their respective ETS. On his return to Wellington, Carter said the Aust Govt is still in the early stages of developing its ETS. “They haven’t made the ultimate decision whether agriculture should be included.” The National Govt had campaigned on a review of the previous Govt’s legislation and the review has now started. Carter says he can’t pre-empt the conclusions of the review but he is convinced agriculture will have to be included in an ETS, particularly when the profile of greenhouse gas emissions in NZ is considered, with agriculture accounting for more than 50% of those emissions. “We cannot expect to make progress around meeting our Kyoto liabilities unless we are prepared to include agriculture.”
Carter sees the important factor as enabling agriculture to reduce emissions without being forced to de-stock. NZ Energy & Environment Business Week regards Carter’s statement as significant. Many farmers have contended agriculture should be excluded from an ETS. They point to the difficulty of precisely monitoring emissions on the farm to determine liabilities incurred. Moreover any penalties exacted on NZ farmers could reduce their ability to compete in overseas markets against countries which do not have similar regimes. This is why Carter is placing so much emphasis on Aust falling into line by including agriculture in its ETS.
Meanwhile John Key revealed last week he’s been burning the midnight oil to nut out a new Emissions Trading Scheme under the tight timeframes imposed by the overdue need for certainty for industry and energy markets about NZ’s approach to carbon pricing. Key jumped in at a press conference last week announcing changes to the Resource Management Act, answering a question directed to Environment Minister Nick Smith, saying he had been “in a very late night meeting just last night” with officials on the ETS question.
Details are scarce, but indications are Smith broadly supports the ETS as proposed by the previous administration, in line with his own green instincts and the advice of the Ministry for the Environment. This has placed him at odds with the party line, which is to pass a substantially revamped ETS into law by the end of September this year. Meanwhile, submissions to the ACT-inspired Emissions Trading Scheme Select Committee are due this Friday, February 13.
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