Emitters should pay for emissions - survey

Voters think business should pay for their emissions, a new survey shows.

The ShapeNZ online survey, commissioned by the New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development, is based on 2118 responses between October 21 and 28.

It asks what voters think of the Government's emissions trading scheme (ETS).

The ETS seeks to limit emissions, which New Zealand is required to do under international agreements, by putting a price on carbon.

Eventually all sectors of the economy will come under it, starting with industry, energy and transport in July next year.

Agriculture will come under it in 2015, two years later than under the original ETS.

It is a less rigorous scheme than the one introduced by the previous government and will halve the cost to consumers of power and petrol price rises.

Critics say taxpayers will subsidise polluters to a greater extent during a transition period. The Government disputes there is a subsidy, saying the money is not coming from the taxpayer.

The survey found 44 per cent of respondents thought New Zealand should lead with its response to climate change while 36 per cent thought it should move at the same pace as other countries, 40 per cent said New Zealand was moving at the same pace as other countries.

Asked who should pay for emissions, 82 per cent said emitters should.

The same percentage of National voters thought emitters should pay in proportion to their emissions. That rose to 91 per cent for Maori Party voters -- that party is supporting the ETS bill through to select committee.

National voters supported the delay of agriculture coming into the scheme -- 49 per cent to 31 per cent. For Maori Party voters the results were reversed.

Nearly half National voters and 75 per cent of Maori Party voters opposed extending free emission credits assistance to large emitters.

Only 28 per cent of National voters supported a cap on the price of emissions while 40 per cent thought the internationally set price should apply. For Maori Party voters the respective results were 14 per cent and 75 per cent.

National voters were fairly evenly split on the proposal to allow emissions to increase through extra production, but Maori Party voters strongly opposed that.

On phasing out assistance for emitters 14 per cent of National voters thought it should continue for five years after a price on emissions was imposed; 30 per cent said it should be phased out in two to four years and 29 per cent in one year. For Maori Party voters the figures were 6 per cent (five years); 32 per cent (two to four years) and 46 per cent (one year).

Neither National (90 per cent) nor Maori Party voters (59 per cent) thought special arrangements should be made for Maori forestry assets.

The weighted survey had a margin of error of 2.1 per cent. The respondents are members of a selected panel of 14,000 designed to represent the national population as of the 1996 census.

- NZPA