Something is rotten in the state of Godzone…
…in which our mighty leader – the Lady in Red – begins to crumble in the face of smoke stacks, cow sheds and men in Working Style suits.
New Zealand’s response to climate change is at a crossroads, and all indications are that the Labour-led government is so engrossed in election panic that it’s going to sacrifice taxpayer money and the planet to curry favour.
Unfortunately for the Government, this is likely to play perfectly into the hands of the National Party which will be quick to claim the credit for the policy shift, while shrewdly leaving Labour to shoulder any fallout.
New Zealand’s flagship climate policy is the emissions trading scheme (ETS), which is currently under scrutiny by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee. In its current form, the scheme suffers serious shortcomings, and desperately needs to be strengthened (see Greenpeace’s comprehensive and easy-reading report into the scheme, which was released to much fanfare in March – www.greenpeace.org.nz/ets-report)
Sadly, these weaknesses in the ETS are being compounded by the day as the Government caves in to big business and waters it down.
Yesterday it announced plans to weaken the scheme by giving away more free pollution credits to the loudest business lobbies. It will do so by delaying the start of the phase-out period for the free pollution credits. It has also chosen to delay the transport sector’s introduction into the scheme until 2011.
The irony is that is these moves – ostensibly to reduce costs to ordinary New Zealanders – are actually going to deprive ordinary Kiwis of valued social services. Every free pollution credit that the Government gives to big business or the agriculture sector represents money that won’t be spent on hospitals and schools. Worse, polluters will have less incentive to change their ways, thereby increasing our greenhouse gas emissions and Kyoto obligation. And who has to pick up that Kyoto bill? Taxpayers.
So for the Government to act all Robin Hood and like it’s doing Betty in Fielding a favour is nothing short of farcical. Make no mistake, the people who’ll suffer the most from this extraordinary backdown are ordinary New Zealanders. Meanwhile who’ll suffer most in the long term from inaction on climate change? Oh, that’s right – that would be everyone.
Greenpeace argues the Government should auction pollution credits under the scheme instead, which will allow the money made from auction to be invested in households so that ordinary New Zealanders can afford to adjust.
Today, Greenpeace will appear before the Select Committee, and argue our case for an emissions trading scheme that actually stands for something and doesn’t equate to little more than a corporate subsidy.
We will say we support the general principle of the scheme, but as it stands, it will fail to achieve the necessary emission cuts. We’ll call for agriculture to be brought into the scheme within the next two years, for polluting industries not to be subsidised with free permits, and for the scheme to be coupled with an overall domestic emissions reduction target for New Zealand.
But mostly we will call for the Government not to bow to predictable and outmoded opposition from big business to any and every climate change solution that’s been tabled to date. Fight back Helen, you alleged climate hero you.
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“I’ve never seen so many (business)men ask you if you wanted to dance
They’re looking for a little (carbon credit)romance, given half a chance
…
The lady in red is dancing with me
…
The way you (backtracked) tonight
I never will forget, the way you (backtracked) tonight
The lady in red
The lady in red
The lady in red
My lady in red”
Ahh Chris De burgh.
Good Grief! NZ is such a tiny little country that the world shouldn’t hassle it about CO2 emission. There is probably for more CO2 bubbling out soda pop and beer in SE Asia than the entire yearly NZ emission!
Dear Harold, i suppose you could argue that on a global scale, New Zealand’s emissions are small when compared to other countries (logical, given we’re tiny both geographically and on a population basis). But i don’t think that’s the question. The question is how well we’re performing with what we’ve got. And the answer is badly. New Zealand’s emissions record is poor to extremely poor when compared to other developed countries. We’re among the worst in the developed world for emission increases, the greenhouse gas intensity of our economy is fourth highest in the OECD and our greenhouse gas emissions per capita are in the top 12 countries worldwide. In things like car ownership rates (which may not sound important, but are a good indication of attitude to the environment), we’re right up there with the worst performers in the world. For every person over the age of 15 in this country, there is a car. We are inefficient with energy, we create a lot of waste per person, and perhaps more worriedly, some of do indeed think that the size of our country should dictate our responsbility to act on the biggest crisis facing the planet. In one regard you’re right though, CO2 is not the biggest issue in New Zealand – we are unique among developed countries in that almost 50 per cent of our emissions come from the agriculture sector. One third of these are from nitrous oxide (from livestock urine, manure and artificial fertiliser) and two-thirds come from methane. The emissions trading scheme will take these emissions into account, as well as CO2.
Finally, New Zealand markets itself and its products on a clean green image, and we like to think of ourselves as being world leaders when it comes to the environment. If we don’t act soon, this reputation will be revealed to be a farce. A recently-released State of the Environment Report (http://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/ser/enz07-summary-dec07/index.html) confirmed we’re already on thin ice. The economic impact of a fall from grace would be catastrophic. The sooner sustainability is recognised as meaning opportunity rather than sacrifice; the sooner New Zealand can safegaurd its reputation and truly claim to be a leader.