As the New Zealand government’s Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) wanes in popularity, perhaps we should remember that New Zealanders will pay for the country’s greenhouse emissions one way or another.
We signed the Kyoto Protocol, along with other countries that give a toss about the greater good, pledging to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels. Part of the deal is that we will pay for anything we emit over this limit.
The idea behind the ETS is that those who are responsible for the pollution pay – and greener options look cheaper and more favourable in comparison.

Polluters will have to buy permits for the greenhouse gases they emit, while companies that remove gas from the atmosphere will get credits which they can trade with polluters.
The cost will be passed on to consumers, in theory steering us towards greener products.
The government’s plan has met considerable resistance from business, who tell us that prices will go up astronomically, and those who see it as another left-wing conspiracy to weasel more tax out of us.
But if this essentially user-pays system doesn’t go ahead, then the government – read: all taxpayers – will be forking out for greenhouse gas permits.
Let’s face it, if this gets paid for from the national budget, we will have no personal incentive to consume fewer pollution-heavy goods.

Cutting back on greenhouse gas emissions is much more than a worthy aim: it’s something every person on the planet needs contribute to.
Public opinion recognises now that global warming is happening.
We’ve seen an impressive about-face in the last two years: from sceptics dithering around “maybes” and “perhapses”, to the converted, where every extra millimetre of rain is another “sign”.
But when it comes to doing something about our own contribution to climate change, we waver again.

Other posts by Katie Llanos-Small