The country's new Emissions Trading Scheme is continuing to feed debate as groups get heated over its likely fallout on business and consumers. The scheme, due to be phased in next year, is designed to help combat global warming by creating an incentive for businesses and households to make decisions that are good for the environment, rather than those which create greenhouse gas emissions. "Every extra day we fail to include the true cost of carbon emissions in our decision-making is a day we make more bad decisions and raise future costs," says Green Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons. Fitzsimons believes that, if done correctly, schemes like the Emissions Trading Scheme would allow New Zealanders to invest in the future of the planet, instead of continuing to dismiss the economic value of a healthy environment. However, the scheme has been criticised for putting the burden of climate change on consumers and small businesses. The director of the Sustainability Council, Simon Terry, on Wednesday said that the scheme would see one section of the community picking up 90% of the charges, while agriculture would pay nothing for its emissions for the first five years, despite being responsible for 50% of the emissions.

The New Zealand Institute of Economic Research believes the scheme would also hurt the economy via job losses and a drop in Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Chief Executive Dr Brent Layton predicts the scheme will see the loss of around 20,000 jobs and cause GDP to drop by almost $6 billion by 2025. The institute has also warned the scheme could cause dairy land to drop in value by 40% and sheep farm land by 25%. Layton says trying to reduce emissions would cost eight times more than simply buying credits in from overseas and he is urging the government to buy in carbon credits. Meanwhile, Federated Farmers is confident a scientific breakthrough will save the farming industry from the scheme. Federated Farmers President Charlie Pedersen says the credits farmers would have to buy to offset their methane production would kill their business under current prices. He says New Zealand has scientists working on the issue, and has placed his confidence in a scientific solution. But the Green Party says delaying the emissions trading scheme will only cause more problems and higher costs.

Fitzsimons remains staunchly against the five-year stand-down period agriculture would receive. "The Sustainability Council report released two days ago shows that there are many low cost ways the farming industry could reduce emissions," she says. However, she concedes that "a lot of changes are needed if we are going to get the ETS right" and believes there needs to be an economic incentive for farmers to get on board emissions reduction. She also said the allocation of free credits to industry must be rethought. "Giving all the credits to existing firms will stifle innovation and lock us into old technology. Giving them all to very large firms endangers the small and medium enterprises on which New Zealand's prosperity is based."