Following the failure of the Rudd administration’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, the Gillard Government has passed its ‘Clean Energy Plan’ through the Australian House of Representatives that will see Australian businesses facing a price on carbon from mid-2012 under a Carbon Pricing Mechanism (‘CPM’ or ‘Mechanism’). The CPM is the key feature of the Clean Energy Plan announced in July 2011, with other aspects including funding for the land-use sector, renewable energy projects, and increased energy efficiency. Progress of the legislation has been ‘fast tracked’ through Parliament and the Australian Government hopes to have them passed into law by the Senate in November 2011. Despite the initial success of the policy, there remains a high level of public and political opposition.  Together with the current global uncertainty regarding the future of an international framework post-2012, there may yet be further hurdles to establishing the CPM.

The New Zealand Government has introduced a consultation document to seek views on banning the use of certified emissions reduction units (CERs) from certain industrial gas projects due to concerns regarding the environmental integrity of such units.

A number of landowners are having difficulties obtaining statutory declarations necessary to complete applications for ‘less than 50 hectare’ exemptions from the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (NZ ETS). Time is running out as applications must be filed by 30 September 2011.  We examine the implications of this requirement below.

In this article we discuss the ETS Review Panel's report, entitled "Doing New Zealand's Fair Share".  

Application deadlines under the NZ ETS are looming for owners of pre-1990 forest land.  We explain why it is important for pre-1990 forestry owners to be aware of whether they are eligible for either an exemption from the NZ ETS, or a 'free allocation' to obtain carbon credits from the Government. 

The National Policy Statement for Renewable Electricity Generation took effect on 13 May 2011. The NPS is a high-level policy document, which does not set material thresholds or targets. Rather, it gives increased recognition to the national significance of renewable electricity generation activities through direction to local authorities.

The Government has appointed panel members and set terms of reference for the first review of the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (NZ ETS). The panel is to be led by David Caygill (former Minister for Finance and Trade and Industry, and Chair of the Electricity Commission) and includes experts from a range of disciplines including accounting, forestry, and iwi affairs. The review is required pursuant to the Climate Change Response Act 2002 (CCRA) in order to evaluate the operation of the NZ ETS.

As required under the Climate Change Response Act 2002, Minister for Climate Change Issues, Nick Smith, has proposed to gazette an emissions reduction target for New Zealand. The Government proposes a 50% reduction in New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2050. This follows the Government’s 2009 stated responsibility target for greenhouse gas emissions reductions of between 10-20% below 1990 levels by 2020.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) is now accepting applications for exemptions in respect of pre-1990 forest land. There are two types of exemption: where the forest landowner owns less than 50ha of pre-1990 forest land, and for deforestation of tree weeds. We focus on the less than 50ha exemption. With the exception of certain regions, such as parts of Canterbury, where wilding pines are a serious problem, the tree weeds exemption will have limited impact.