Further to the Kyoto botch-up: it seems that the government placed far too much faith in its modelling of our carbon balance. According to my sources, the estimates of how many credits New Zealand would get for forest cover were always plus-or-minus 100%, depending on exactly what was counted and how. But these uncertainties were virtually absent from the cabinet papers on the subject, at least as of last year when I skimmed them. Now, I know that making policy against a backdrop of uncertainty is a nightmare - but even so, policy-makers should at least be aware of the possible outcomes so they can plan accordingly. In this case, they weren't - and as a result face an unexpected bill.
One other thing is that this may have fatally undermined the government's core policy of incentivising the market using carbon credits. This made perfect sense when the government had credits to give away (at least as long as they were giving away more than they were saving). Now they have to buy those credits on the open market, its not looking so tenable. If the government wants to promote reduced emissions, then it is going to have to find another way to do it - and fast.
1 comments:
Doesnt it make so much sense to take money off New Zealand citizerns and then give it to a foreign government Its even better than taking money off New Zealand citizerns and giving to the New Zealand government cause no matter what the spin this is the reality The socialists have outdone themselves on this one Its like aid money really Im going to make a donation out of my hard earned dollars to lets see Which government will I favour with my donation Idiots All
gd
Posted by Anonymous : 6/17/2005 04:29:00 PM
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