Cry wolf

Agricultural emissions high a report prepared for an industry association, Greenhouse Policy Coalition, by Castalia, an economic consultancy, says it will be impossible to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in New Zealand to meet Kyoto Protocol targets without causing severe economic hardship to New Zealanders.

Alex Sundakov, author of the report said, "With half our greenhouse gas emissions coming from agriculture it would be expensive to get the required national emission reductions out of the remaining sectors of the economy. Also, increasing vehicular emissions are closely related to economic growth." He added that industrial emissions were associated with sectors that were globally mobile, so companies would move their operations to countries without carbon taxes and price based measures, leading to business loss for New Zealand.

Catherine Beard, Executive Director, Greenhouse Policy Coalition, said that the report is a wake-up call to ensure realistic goals in domestic and international climate change policy. "We can not let climate change policies put a handbrake on the economy," she said and hoped the government's policy review would reach a similar conclusion and promote policies that will be less damaging to the economy.