NIKKI KAYE (National—Auckland Central) : I rise to support the Climate Change Response (Emissions Trading Forestry Sector) Amendment Bill. Climate change is very important to many young New Zealanders. In terms of the numbers of letters and emails I have had from young people, one of the highest-priority issues that comes through is the environment. A lot of young people have written to me regarding the environment, and I acknowledge them in the House this afternoon.
Our Government is very committed to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and to coming up with sensible climate change policy. Many members today have noted that this legislation is a technical change, and it is supported by most members in the House today. I acknowledge some of the comments made from members on the opposite side of the House that, hopefully, this is a new era for New Zealand in terms of climate change policy and that we will be able to work across different sides of the House on the issue. Many people are watching this debate—both young and old—who are very keen for us to work in a cross-party way on climate change.
The key purpose of this bill is to amend the Climate Change Response Act 2002 in order to delay a number of requirements, including reporting requirements for foresters, allowing applications for exemptions for certain land holdings, and the publication by the Government of an allocation plan for pre-1990 forest owners. The requirements are applicable to the forestry sector under the New Zealand emissions trading scheme. As a result, the sector with pre-1990 forest land would have had to meet legal obligations before the completion of the final allocation plan for the sector. It is very positive that we are here today introducing these three amendments, because it would not have been right to allow a situation to occur whereby the final allocation plan for the pre-1990 forest land would have had to be passed by 30 June 2009.
I acknowledge the work at this point in time of the Emissions Trading Scheme Review Committee, which has been reviewing climate change in this area. Some good work has happened, but part of the reason we are here today is that the work has taken longer than expected. I think part of the reason for the work taking longer than expected is that there is quite a bit of complexity in terms of some of the issues around the forestry sector. But if we look at some of the issues we have had around calculating our Kyoto liability, then we start to see some of the complexity in terms of determining some of the issues on climate change.
The review has taken longer than we expected, and the committee is likely to report back to Parliament in early August, but one thing we have made very clear is that the use of a financial instrument to introduce a price on carbon is central to our climate change policy. The adoption of an amended emissions trading scheme is our preferred financial instrument. We believe that it will be important for our future efforts to ensure as far as possible that any amended emissions trading scheme is harmonised with the Australasian Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. It is really important to make that point. There has been a lot of debate recently, particularly in the media, about what our target will be in the future. We should ensure that we are not moving at a pace that is out of step with other nations, but we should also ensure that when we have a discussion around what our targets may be, we first consult with the public. That is exactly what we are doing. I am pleased we are holding nine public meetings on our target.
The second thing that is quite crucial, in my view, about that target is being very clear about how we will get there. It is all very well to talk of having ambitious targets, but if we do not have a plan about how we will get there, then, in my view, it is just hot air.
I am very pleased that we are here today to pass very sensible legislation. Some people are calling the bill a technical bill, but from my point of view I think it is an opportunity to raise the issue of climate change and recognise that many New Zealanders out there care about our environment and about our target in this area. It is important to realise that unless we have a plan as to how we will achieve that target, then it is hot air.
We should also recognise that for any target we must make sure that we are very clear on the impact on our economy. I think it was my colleague Nicky Wagner who made the point that our economic health and environmental health are very closely aligned.
The final point I will make regarding climate change is that we, as a country, are recognised for our expertise and research and development ability in the agriculture and forestry sectors. In my view, apart from the discussion about targets, one of the key areas of focus we need to get right is on agricultural emissions. I know that our Government has moved forward and I am very pleased that we have established a Centre for Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research. We are leading the development of an international research centre that will be focused on greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural sector. I believe that it will be crucial for us in making headway in the area of climate change, moving forward.
I will just touch on a couple of other things we are doing, because I think we can get a little bit lost in some of the academic debate around things like targets. It really is important to recognise what we are doing now to reduce emissions in New Zealand. In the Budget we announced the home insulation fund, for which we have allocated $323 million. That will assist us in terms of moving to reduce emissions, particularly in our homes, and making sure those homes are the most energy efficient.
We have also allocated $36 million to a biodiesel grants programme. We are introducing changes to streamline the Resource Management Act processes, including the renewable energy consent process. We are working on a national policy statement for renewable electricity generation. And also, in terms of transport, which is another key area where are emissions are high, we will be introducing legislation to exempt light electric vehicles from road-user charges.
I support this legislation. It is technical legislation but it has given me the opportunity to recognise the many New Zealanders, particularly young New Zealanders, who care about this issue, and to really send a message to them that we want to have a target, we want it to be achievable, and we want to make sure we have a good plan behind it. But at the moment, at this time, we will have to delay some of these provisions because we cannot move forward until we get good, sound policy right. That will be partly through the Emissions Trading Scheme Review Committee, but it should also be recognised that we are doing a number of things to reduce emissions. I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on the bill.
