ETS Amendments A Step In Right Direction

ETS Amendments A Step In Right Direction - DairyNZ

DairyNZ is welcoming the fact the government says it needs to be realistic about agriculture in an emissions trading scheme (ETS).

“We’re still seriously worried about the risk of New Zealand kneecapping its biggest export industry, but it’s pleasing to hear the government say it’s concerned about the cost of an ETS to agriculture, because we certainly are. It has also acknowledged that we don’t yet have the solution to reduce agricultural emissions at the moment, so pushing back the entry date two years to 2015 is a step in the right direction,” says DairyNZ CEO Dr Tim Mackle.

“It’s good to see indications that the allocation of emissions units to agriculture will be done on an intensity basis, but the point of obligation on-farm remains an important issue for dairy farming. We hope the delay in entry for agriculture will allow time for work to underpin an on-farm point of obligation to progress.

“Once the details become available, we’ll be examining them to determine the exact implications for the dairy sector. We want to ensure that any ETS does not hurt the competitiveness of New Zealand dairy farmers by unfairly handicapping them against their overseas competitors who’re not being charged for their GHG emissions,” Dr Mackle said.

ENDS

© Scoop Media