Press release form the Environmental Defence Society
6 November 2001
Immediate
New Zealand Needs To Ratify Kyoto
The Environmental Defence Society has reacted to a call from Carter Holt Harvey to halt progress towards ratifying the
Kyoto Protocol to the UN Climate Change Convention on Climate Change.
Speaking from Marrakech where the parties to the Convention are meeting, Mr Garry Law, Climate Change Convenor for EDS
said; “There is every prospect the conference will resolve the remaining issues over rules for applying the Protocol and
present a Protocol that is able to be ratified.
“New Zealanders contribute to global emissions at a rate far above the world average. We are part of the problem and
must be part of the solution.
“The cost will come into play later this decade. To point to the current global recession as a reason to delay as CHH
have done, makes no sense. What the state of the economic cycle will be years from now is anybody’s guess.
It is also disingenuous to point just to the costs that carbon emitters will attract as if they are just an extra tax.
What they will be is a shift in where the tax burden falls.
“There will always be a competitiveness cost for some industries. If there was no problem there would be no impact.
There is a problem, Mr Law said. Knowing sooner where the costs will fall makes sense so industries can plan around the
impact and ideally reduce their emissions in the process.
“Carter Holt fail to even mention that New Zealand will also benefit from selling its forest carbon sinks credits.
Without ratification of Kyoto they are worthless.
“The Government is to be commended for its progress towards ratification and domestic implementation. It is not a minute
to soon, said Mr Law.
Ph 021 665 764
glaw@lawas.co.nz
PO Box 87 311 Meadowbank, Auckland