ETS settings make NZ too reliant on planting trees: climate commission

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Opinion

Two news items last week related to the climate crisis deserve some extra attention, especially the latest report of the Climate Change Commission which was critical of the Emissions Trading Scheme.

In effect the commission says that a new path is needed to net zero emissions by 2050 which will include the ETS, but that it is clear the ETS cannot do this alone.

The commission says the current ETS settings make the country far too reliant on planting trees instead of making real cuts to emissions.

It says New Zealand is on track for large swathes of land being planted out, “allowing gross emissions to continue largely unabated”. It warns that mass planting would eventually lead to huge amounts of credits coming on to the market which would force prices down. Ultimately, the ETS could cease to be a useful tool to drive emissions.

This advice has huge significance for this district where there is concern about pastoral land being converted into permanent and harvest forests to gain credits.

The commission also says more work is needed to rapidly increase renewable energy and infrastructure across the country and help supercharge electric vehicle uptake.

The other announcement at the end of the week was that the Government would spend hundreds of millions on new hybrid trains for the Wellington region. Eighteen new four-car trains will be bought for the Wellington to Masterton and Wellington to Palmerston North lines along with station and line upgrades, with central government contributing 90 percent of the cost. This is expected to add 1.5 million trips on these lines annually.

The National Party was on the front foot at the weekend releasing a firearms policy intended to allow legitimate gun owners access while making things harder for illegal users, then announcing a policy aimed at the country’s nursing crisis. National would pay off $4500 from student loans for nurses and midwives and grant qualified overseas nurses and midwives a six-month temporary visa while they looked for work. The total benefit for students would be $22,000.

The saddest story of the week for many was news that 43 years after the Erebus disaster, New Zealand’s largest peacetime loss of life, the families of those who died will have to wait even longer after a decision it is no longer safe to build the 17 metre Sky Song bridge in Auckland’s Dove Meyer Robinson Park.

Some of the descendants now feel that they will die before the long overdue memorial is finally built.