National has "total confidence" technology will be developed to mitigate the effects of climate change in the agricultural sector.
Jack Tame interviews National’s climate change spokesperson on farmers paying for agricultural emissions.
"To simply take the New Zealand agriculture sector, which is the most emissions efficient food producing sector in the world, and say that the future for that sector is to tax it before you’ve got an opportunity to apply technology that hasn’t appeared yet - I think is nonsense," said National climate change spokesperson Todd Muller on TVNZ1's Q+A.
Last week, the interim climate change report recommended a package that priced agricultural emissions under the Emissions Trading Scheme until 2025, when a farm-level emissions price through a levy or rebate scheme integrated with the ETS would be implemented.
The agreement, involving one of the country’s biggest polluters, is being hailed a breakthrough.
Read: Agricultural emissions in ETS firing line – interim climate change report
Farmers would still receive a 95 per cent discount on emissions, as outlined in the Labour-NZ First coalition agreement.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said despite the hefty discount, putting a price on agricultural emissions "still incentivises significant behaviour change".
Jack Tame sits down with the Prime Minister to discuss KiwiBuild, tax and climate change.
New Zealand, she said, is "amongst the first in the world to have a comprehensive emissions trading scheme where our farmers are working with us to try and bring their emissions profile down...We are amongst the first to make 1.5 degrees or less the goal that we have as a nation because of the duty of care to our Pacific neighbours".
"Also, the work that we're doing with the Taranaki region, investing in new renewable energy options, public transport investment – across the board we are investing to make sure that we transition our economy and meet our climate change obligations," she said on Q+A last night.
The farming sector is against incorporating its emissions under the ETS, with Federated Farmers saying it expected universal pricing of methane to be unsuccessful.
Terry Copeland says his organisation has agreed only to work with the Government on reducing emissions.
Mr Muller agreed that agriculture should not be included in the ETS.
"That particular proposal looks to sheet that cost back to the sector at a manufacturing level. The Interim Climate Committee itself said that if you actually wanted to drive change in an agricultural context you price emissions on farm but that can't be done at the moment.
"Farmers don't have the tools to be able to effectively measure their on-farm emissions, they don't have any tools to mitigate or reduce those on farm emissions.
"You first of all measure, then you can manage, you apply innovation then you can change... I have total confidence that the technology will appear."
Federated Farmers' climate change spokesman Andrew Hoggard said last week the sector was committed to working with Government to design a pricing scheme that would support on-farm practice - "only applying to methane emissions over the 0.3 per cent per annum reductions that science tells us is enough to ensure methane no longer adds to global warming".
"Unlike for a fossil-fuel powered vehicle, there is no 'electric sheep' equivalent for farmers, but there is the potential for methane inhibitors or a vaccine, albeit some years away from proof and coming to market," he said.
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