New Zealand will meet the Kyoto Protocol’s requirement for “demonstrable progress” towards its greenhouse gas emission target by 2005 without difficulty, says the Convenor of the Ministerial Group on Climate Change, Pete Hodgson.

Mr Hodgson said Business New Zealand was seriously mistaken in its claim today that the “demonstrable progress” requirement contradicted the Prime Minister’s statement to Parliament this week.

“The Government has already released the National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy, which will reduce New Zealand’s estimated excess of carbon dioxide emissions on business-as-usual over our Protocol target by about a third if it is comprehensively implemented by 2012,” Mr Hodgson said.

“Business New Zealand should also be well aware of the imminent national strategies for transport and waste management, which will contribute significantly to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Further, the Government will be in a position to release its preferred greenhouse policy outline in April. Altogether these initiatives already amount to significant progress, on an international scale, towards meeting New Zealand’s Kyoto Protocol obligations.”

Mr Hodgson said he was disappointed to see Business NZ making careless rhetorical use of economic modelling data, by quoting a single figure from the large amount of material referenced in the National Interest Analysis concerning ratification of the Protocol.

“The figure quoted by Business NZ as an official estimate of the impact of greenhouse policies on the dairy industry is no such thing. It is drawn from economic modelling thatnecessarily made broad assumptions about Government policy which will not be borne out.

“I can only hope that Business NZ will be making less hasty and more thoughtful contributions to the climate change debate in the future.”

Ends

© Scoop Media