The New Zealand parliament passed a controversial new climate change law through parliament by a narrow majority yesterday, defying its own chief adviser on the environment.
The center-right government fast-tracked legislation setting up an amended emissions trading scheme (ETS) designed to reduce greenhouse gases blamed for global warming, which was passed by only 63 votes to 58.
Earlier, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Jan Wright urged legislators to reject the law, saying: “In its current form, the bill virtually guarantees that the ETS will not achieve its stated goal of reducing our greenhouse gas emissions.”
She said the law was supposed to encourage a move to an environmentally sustainable economy by putting a price on carbon emissions, but they would continue to rise because the worst industrial polluters would be given free credits.
“The amendments pass much of the cost from polluters to taxpayers. And without giving some sectors the incentive to invest in low carbon-intensive technologies, emissions will continue to rise,” Wright said.
Nick Smith, the minister for climate change, told parliament the scheme, which comes into effect on Jan. 1, was “workable and affordable. It strikes the right balance in protecting the future of our economy and our environment.”
The government wanted the law, which amends a tougher trend-setting scheme introduced by the former Labour government, passed before next month’s climate change conference in Copenhagen.
Labour’s spokesman on the issue, Charles Chauvel, told parliament the law was “fundamentally flawed on multiple levels. It is economically irrational, socially inequitable, environmentally counter-productive and fiscally unsustainable.”
He pledged that a future Labour government would repeal it.
The National Party, which rules with a minority government, persuaded the Maori Party to support the law after its free market supporters in the Association of Consumers and Taxpayers party refused to do so.
Under the deal, five big Maori tribes will benefit by getting permission to plant trees on 35,000 hectares of public land and keep profits from selling the carbon credits arising from them.
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