A simple guide to the emissions trading scheme and zero carbon bill

New Zealand’s climate change legislation is kind of like a car race…

2019’s forecast is showing changes on several fronts; the effects of climate change are upon us and in response, the political institutions of the world are moving to do their bit.

As a follow up from our Paris Agreement commitments, the New Zealand government is taking action and is about to change two key pieces of NZ climate change legislation, the Emissions Trading Scheme and the Zero Carbon Bill (formerly the Climate Change Response Act 2002).

Any stakeholder involved in the business world should know about these trends because sustainability and carbon emissions are becoming a material issue for businesses across the board.

However, these are by no means simple pieces of legislation. The Emissions Trading Scheme, in particular, is about as complicated and unpalatable as, well, climate change. And the Zero Carbon Bill has its fair share of environmental and political jargon, too.

So, it might be easier (and more interesting) to use an analogy.

A racing metaphor: going from zero to 100 on NZ climate change policy

New Zealand has signed up to the Grand Prix of climate change: the Paris Agreement, whose aim is to avoid a climate pile-up of demolition derby proportions.

In the Paris agreement, New Zealand will have crossed the finish line once we’ve reached ‘zero net’ emissions, by eliminating all of the carbon our country releases, either through reduction or offsetting.

We can think of zero net emissions as the finish line: where we want to be in 2050. New Zealand’s rising star Jacinda Adern, has pledged to race across the ‘zero net’ emission finish line by 2050 in her navigation plan, the Zero Carbon Bill

However, we don’t know exactly what the journey to the zero looks like yet, because the Zero Carbon Bill doesn’t outline how we are going to get there. It provides flexibility for future governments to reach this goal.

Jacinda’s vehicle of choice, the Emissions Trading Scheme, is what Team New Zealand is planning on using to get over the line. Unfortunately, to envisage Jacinda speeding past in a glossy Tesla wouldn’t be the most accurate depiction of the old kiwi ETS. Frankly, it might be more reasonable to imagine an old bunger, that’s had no shortage of breakdowns and hot air (due to some dodgy parts under the hood — more on that in a later article).

Fortunately, as part of the Zero Carbon Bill, the ETS is currently in a pit stop, and Jacinda’s pit crew leader James Shaw has some upgrades planned that will, hopefully, get New Zealand back on track.

What can I do?

The good news is, even if you are not sure this legislation will apply to your business, you can start doing your bit in the fight against climate change.

Some simple steps you can take today might be looking at considering a low or zero-emissions energy provider, or maybe converting your vehicle or business fleet to electric, saving the planet (and your petrol bill).

If you’re looking for an easy way to reduce the emissions involved in your customers’ purchases, that’s where we can help.

CarbonClick makes it simple to engage your customers in climate action by offering them the opportunity to offset their emissions with one click of a button.

CarbonClick is the world’s simplest carbon offset system. With our easy to implement solution, any business can offer internationally recognized carbon credits to any customer within their existing Ecommerce infrastructure.

Get in touch today, and let’s start making a difference.

A Simple Guide to The Emissions Trading Scheme and Zero Carbon Bill was originally published in CarbonClick on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.