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Who is paying for Kyoto in NZ?
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Introduction
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The
following analysis pre-supposes the reader understands the basics behind the
Kyoto protocol. This analysis report
is derived from the figures on the next page of which all the basic
assumptions are user-definable. The
default is the best information we currently have.
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The Climate Change Bill and its issue
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In a modern
western economy you wouldn't expect a Government to put up private assets as
security for a State loan, let alone a permanent loan. The current Labour led Government is
proposing an equivalent of just that in its Climate Change Bill. It signed up to the Kyoto protocol without
ever fully understanding its implications. The Bill before Parliament seeks
to effectively requisition private assets to deliver on certain aspects of
the protocol. The "assets
grab" is unprecedented in a democracy.
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What is Kyoto endeavouring to do?
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The Kyoto
protocol assumes that global emissions of Green House Gases (GHG) in 1990 was
sustainable in terms of the planet's ability to cope.
There are two sides to the Kyoto protocol.
On the one hand there are the
emissions. This include some industrial processes, energy use,
combustion engines, decomposition of organic materials (including composting)
and animal farming that emit into the atmosphere either carbon dioxide,
methane, nitrous oxide or a handful of other gases. While the basic global
warming contributor is deemed to be excess amounts of CO2, the other gases are worse.
For example methane exceeds carbon dioxide by a factor of 21 and Nitrous oxide over 300. Collectively
these are referred to as carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e).
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The
delivery by the signatories to the obligations under the Kyoto protocol are
in what are defined as "commitment periods". The first KCP is 1/1/2008 to 31/12/2012.
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Key features of the Climate Change Bill
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The
delivery mechanism of the obligations under the Kyoto protocol are under an
Emissions Trading Scheme. The supply side is the carbon credits issued to
those sequestering carbon (1 tonne of sequestered carbon
is the equivalent of 3.67 tonnes of CO2 - the calculation is based on atomic weights) or undertaking carbon dioxide emissions replacement
activities.
The other side of ETS is those emitting CO2e who need to cover those emission by purchasing carbon
credits. [The Bill signals an
allocation of carbon credits for emitters but it proposed that these will be
phased out by 2025.]
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The cost and who pays?
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Under
Kyoto, sequestered carbon is important because the growth of each tonne of
organic carbon (eg trees etc) requires the absorption of 3.67 tonnes of
carbon dioxide. In signing up to the protocol, the Government committed
privately owned planted forest land as part of its obligation.
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In addition
to this is the inability for land-owners to get any value from the carbon
sequestered in post-1989 exotic trees prior to 1 January 2008. Assuming that the average age of these
trees is
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Under the Bill as it
stands, indigenous forests are excluded.
Although only an estimate, on the
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