Need for Aust And NZ To Co-Ordinate ETS Policies
February 16th, 2009
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. Carter believes co-ordination is possible as 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.”
No exclusion possible. 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. Carter sees the important factor as enabling agriculture to reduce emissions without being forced to de-stock.
Our view. Carter’s statement is significant. Many farmers have contended agriculture should be excluded from an ETS. They point to the difficulty of precisely monitoring emissions on farms to determine liabilities incurred. Moreover, any penalties exacted on NZ farmers could reduce international competitiveness. This is why Carter is placing so much emphasis on Aust falling into line by including agriculture in its ETS.
QUOTABLE: “We cannot expect to make progress around meeting our Kyoto liabilities unless we are prepared to include agriculture.” – DAVID CARTER
Copyright © The Main Report Group - NZ AGri-Business
