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A scheme that takes the wild west out of green credits trading kicked off a big week for nature and climate.<\/p>\n
Farmers and greenies were cheering it, but that soon changed for one side with the next announcement that the Government is banning lawsuits against big polluters.<\/p>\n
Then, less than a day later, what\u2019s been billed as the biggest shakeup in conservation in 40 years drew more criticism from opposition parties, iwi, and environmentalists.<\/p>\n
Today, The Detail looks at the three big announcements last week with two political journalists, Marc Daalder from Newsroom and Russell Palmer from RNZ.<\/p>\n
Daalder says soon after the associate environment minister Andrew Hoggard\u2019s voluntary carbon market was made public, he got emails from Forest and Bird, and from Federated Farmers, that were full of praise for the policy.<\/p>\n
Hoggard says the scheme is similar to the share trading platform Sharesies, but for nature. The Government won\u2019t run the market but it will put regulations in place that give people certainty.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an accreditation system. The government isn\u2019t gong to accredit specific products but they will accredit schemes that then look at each individual project and say, \u2018yes this is really happening\u2019 or \u2018no it\u2019s not\u2019,\u201d says Daalder.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt gives consumers assurance that those claims \u2013 if someone says \u2018when you buy this product we restore a hectare of wetland\u2019 \u2013 that that hectare of wetland is actually being restored.\u201d<\/p>\n
Three of the international schemes that already operate in New Zealand have been given the tick from the Government and Hoggard expected pilot schemes would start popping up by the end of the year, says Daalder.<\/p>\n
The all-round cheers for a Government policy lasted only a day, before Tuesday\u2019s surprise news that climate laws will be changed to prevent companies being sued over damage caused by greenhouse gas emissions. The law change, labelled by Greenpeace as a \u201cshocking abuse of power\u201d, stops climate activist Mike Smith\u2019s seven-year court battle that gained worldwide attention.<\/p>\n
In 2024, Smith was granted permission by the Supreme Court to sue Fonterra, Z Energy and other large emitters under tort law, where a person or entity can claim another has caused them harm.<\/p>\n
Daalder says the Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith made it clear last week the purpose of the law change was to stop the case from going ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn many ways Mike Smith is at the forefront of this wave of climate litigation. There\u2019s lots of climate litigation around the world and we hear about some cases [that are] successful, some cases not successful under a range of regimes, but this is a kind of particular one and that\u2019s where the Government is closing the door.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says Goldsmith\u2019s argument is that Parliament has created a legislative regime for climate change and a duplicate regime putting new obligations on companies through the courts.<\/p>\n
But Daalder points out that Fonterra faces few legal obligations from its agriculture emissions because the Government has made the decision to exclude agriculture from the Emissions Trading Scheme and not to introduce any other regulation on its emissions.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes it has set targets, as Fonterra will tell you, of a 30 percent reduction in emissions intensity by 2030. We\u2019re in 2026 and they\u2019ve got a 3.8 percent reduction so far, so that\u2019s a long way to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
While many were still digesting this news, the future of our 8.7 million-hectare conservation estate and how it will be funded was set out in the government\u2019s Conservation Amendment Bill.<\/p>\n
Conservation minister Tama Potaka is promising the Bill will support economic growth and regional jobs, and cut red tape for hundreds of businesses that operate on or around conservation land. He says the system needs to be modernised.<\/p>\n
New charges to foreign visitors to national parks will bring in $60 million a year, which would be spent on conservation land and infrastructure.<\/p>\n
The government spends about $700m a year on conservation through the Department of Conservation and the new bill aims to reduce the burden on taxpayers, says RNZ political reporter Russell Palmer.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you\u2019ve also got to keep in mind that this is the same Government that increased the international tourism levy \u2013 which the National Party originally opposed \u2013 from $35 to $100.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was initially tagged solely to safeguarding the environment, conservation and sustainable tourism but it seems to have been going to more general tourism and other matters.\u201d<\/p>\n
Critics are warning that the bill will mean up to 60 percent of conservation land could be sold, including beech forest in Lewis Pass, and areas of habitat for native species like kaka, kakariki and native blue penguin.<\/p>\n
Potaka calls the 60 percent claim \u201clunacy\u201d and says the Government wants to look closer at parcels of DOC-owned land like that occupied by the MetService in Wellington, and sections in Ohakune.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd there\u2019s not a lot of conservation going on. Those things should be up for more empowered discussion and we can then use that putea when we sell that to reinvest in biodiversity.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Government also faces criticism over its plans for upholding Treaty settlements in the new bill.<\/p>\n
Ngai Tahu says it is not against making improvements to the system but the Treaty issue is being treated as an afterthought.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt puts iwi in the position of being forced to renegotiate important parts of their settlements to fit within a narrow framework,\u201d Te R\u016bnanga o Ng\u0101i Tahu Kaiwhakahaere Justin Tipa says in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnder the new regime, where elements of a settlement do not fit neatly within that framework, the Crown would only be required to meet them \u2018to the greatest extent possible\u2019. In no world does that align with a \u2018full and final\u2019 settlement.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked if iwi will get first right of refusal on any conservation land that the Government plans to sell, Potaka says that is already locked in.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, those are commitments as upheld in the Treaty settlements. We\u2019ve said in the coalition agreement, we\u2019ve said in the discussions to date, we will uphold Treaty settlements.\u201d<\/p>\n
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