WWF media release

ETS Amendment Bill nail in coffin for NZ climate action

The amended Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), tabled in the house today, has been branded ‘another nail in the coffin for New Zealand’s credibility on climate change’ by WWF, the global conservation organisation.

The Climate Change Response (Emissions Trading Scheme and Other Matters) Amendment Bill has passed through the Select Committee process unchanged, despite a wide range of concerns raised by civil society groups, the forest industry and the opposition parties.

Minority reports by the Green Party, Labour Party and New Zealand First all opposed passage of the Bill.

Commenting on the tabling of the Bill before Parliament, Peter Hardstaff, Climate Change Programme Manager at WWF-New Zealand, said:

“The ETS was watered down by this government in 2009 and if that wasn’t enough, it is being further diluted now. It will not stimulate the emissions reductions we need and will instead allow big polluters to pollute cheaply at the expense of the tax payer.

“This is another nail in the coffin for New Zealand’s credibility on climate change and suggests the government has no intention of trying to set this country’s emissions on a downward path. Other parties in the UN climate talks will rightly see New Zealand’s claims to be doing something to reduce emissions as all spin and no substance.

“Even New Zealand’s inadequate goal of a 50% emissions cut by 2050 is looking increasingly out of reach. We call on the government to re-think not only this Bill but its whole approach to climate policy, to make the essential transition towards a low carbon future as smooth as possible.”

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