[ad_1]
Federal Farmers RMA spokesman Mark Hooper said they support the newly introduced bill which would prohibit parliament from considering greenhouse gas emissions in consent decisions.
photo: RNZ/Robin Martin
Federal farmers are backing a parliamentarian’s bill aimed at stopping local councils from considering the negative impacts of climate change in consent decisions.
ACT MP Mark CameronThe council, which introduced the bill, said parliamentary efforts to tackle climate change were “hopeless” and causing a “productivity crisis”.
Gisborne District Council has developed a climate change roadmap to 2050 to guide the council on how to reduce emissions and respond to climate change in the region.
Cameron said the ACT recognised that local councils needed to prepare for extreme weather events but questioned its claimed responsibility to reduce emissions.
“Reducing emissions in the Gisborne region will not change the climate because climate change is global,” he said.
He claims that efforts to reduce regional emissions under a cap-and-trade system like New Zealand’s will drive production activity – and the associated emissions – into neighbouring regions.
“How does the commission verify carbon offsetting activity in other parts of the country? This would be better managed through a national system such as the emissions trading system,” Cameron said.
He said the bill would only deal with greenhouse gas emissions because they are a global problem.
“Our farmers, business owners, heavy industry, even the business sector are unable to function properly because they are bogged down by red tape… This bill seeks to eliminate those abuses,” he said.
Australian Capital Territory MP Mark Cameron said climate change was a national issue, not a local council issue.
photo: New Zealand Herald/Mark Mitchell
Federal farmers’ RMA (Resource Management Act) spokesman Mark Hooper said they supported legislative changes to prevent regional and district councils from regulating greenhouse gas emissions.
“Having local councils regulate greenhouse gas emissions could also cause some real headaches for farmers, adding a lot of costs and uncertainty,” he said.
“For example, a local council could set a completely unreasonable emissions reduction target that is much bigger and faster than what the national target requires.”
He said if farmers could not demonstrate how they would meet those targets they could be refused resource consents.
“It might sound a little outrageous, but we’re already starting to see plans from the Wellington Regional Council to reduce emissions by 50 per cent by 2030.
“With 38 per cent of the region’s emissions coming from agriculture, it’s impossible to achieve this target without shutting down farms, which would have a huge economic impact,” he said.
Hooper said the same was true for areas like Gisborne.
Gisborne District Council’s director of sustainable futures, Joanna Noble, said the council had not yet had a chance to discuss the newly introduced bill.
Mayor Recht Stolz said any legislative changes would have an impact, but it was difficult to assess their effectiveness without knowing the substance of those changes.
“Climate change is hugely important to everyone, but especially to Tairāwhiti, and we will continue to consider this issue in our mahi,” she said.
A New Zealand Local Government spokesman said local councils were committed to tackling climate change and were at the forefront of the fight against it.
“The impact is more severe than ever before.
“One of the biggest costs to parliament has been the constant revision of its role by successive governments.”
A LGNZ spokesman said political consensus was needed on major issues such as climate change.
LDR is a local news organisation jointly funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
[ad_2]
Source link
