Climate Change
Prime Minister Helen Clark signed the document that affects New Zealand's ratification of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change on 10 December 2002. Ratification of the Kyoto Protocol is recognition that climate change is a global issue, and that New Zealand has a part to play in addressing the problem.
Under the Protocol, New Zealand will have an obligation to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels on average over the 2008-2012 commitment period, or to take responsibility for any emissions over these levels.
The Government undertook two rounds of consultation with the public and national stakeholders in 2001/2002. Both consultations involved the wide distribution of consultation documents followed by nationwide meetings with the public, local government representatives, business and special interest groups, and hui. The first consultation sought the views of New Zealanders on the implications of ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, and the second sought views on the preferred policy options to meet New Zealand’s Kyoto obligations.
The Government announced its confirmed policy package on climate change in October 2002, setting out its policies for meeting New Zealand's targets under the Kyoto Protocol. It includes:
- An emissions charge applied to fossil fuels and industrial process emissions. The Government retains the option of introducing emissions trading as an alternative to an emissions charge if the international carbon market is functional.
- Provision of government incentives for Climate Change Projects that will deliver defined reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, in any sector of the economy.
- Negotiated Greenhouse Agreements (NGAs) for firms and industries where there is significant risk to their international competitiveness. Firms entering into NGAs will undertake to achieve international best practice in managing emissions, in return for exemption from all or part of the emissions charge.
- Exemption for the agricultural sector from emissions charges in the first commitment period, provided the sector invests in research to identify options for reducing agricultural emissions.
- Government retention of the sink credits and associated liabilities allocated to New Zealand under the Protocol in recognition of the carbon sink value of post-1990 forest plantings. The Government, rather than forest owners, will also assume the liability created by the Kyoto Protocol for deforestation, up to a specified cap.
Further information can be found on the website of the New Zealand Climate Change Programme.
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Climate Change Response Act 2002
The Climate Change Response Act 2002 establishes the registry and procedures required for implementation of the Kyoto Protocol. This page links to amendments to the Act.
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Archive
Archive of Ministry documents relating to climate change.
Other Ministry Documents on Climate Change
- Greenhouse Gas Policy Timing. An introduction and links to three documents contributing to the policy process (May 1999, September 2000, and November 2000)
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