19 Aug 2005

It has become clear to the Government that NZ is not going to be able to meet its emissions reduction target for the first commitment period (2008-2012). In response to that, the Government has directed officials to undertake a review of current climate change policy settings and objectives, and to report back to Cabinet by 31 October 2005.

At a stakeholder meeting on 18 August 2005, attendees were informed that wider consultation and dialogue will not occur during the review but may occur after October. At this point, the review only includes officials but certain stakeholders and experts will be shoulder tapped to contribute in areas where the review panel lack expertise.

It was re-iterated that carbon tax is current policy and work on implementation will carry on. This review intends to be strategic about meeting the first commitment period.

FoMA representatives requested that the review look closly at where the burden falls for meeting the current policies as it is quite clear that Maori are unfairly burdened by the current policies. This is the substance of the message FoMA has been continuously advocating. It is an issue that has not been looked into further by Crown officials despite a Maori Issues paper being created, which outlines all the factors that need to be considered.

On the current review panel, there is no individual who can provide a substantive Maori viewpoint, with the panel being made up of officials from the Ministry for the Environment, plus representatives from the Ministry of Economic Development, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of Transport and the Treasury.

FoMA has also written to Pete Hodgson requesting a meeting to address its concerns on the climate change policies and the unfair burden on Maori, but are yet to get a reply.

This review will seek to identify (at a high level) an appropriate mix of policies for New Zealand up to 2012 and beyond. Questions that will be looked at include:

• What is the best balance between further mitigation policies and Kyoto flexible mechanisms?
• Who is best placed to undertake decisions about this balance?
• How would any devolution of New Zealand’s emission reduction obligations be achieved? What should the broad direction of any further, or alternative, policies to mitigate New Zealand’s emissions be?
• What are the implications of these policies for New Zealand’s strategic climate change goal and does this need to be updated?

For more information and terms of reference visit the Climate Change Website