Report on the Technical Advisory Group for theAgriculture Component of the NZETS
Climate Change Leadership Forum report number: 4
Briefing for the Climate Change Leadership Forum
Prepared by Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
Date: 16 May 2008
Summary:
The Agriculture Technical Advisory Group last met on 22 April 2008 and considered a paper setting out:
- The relationship between the point of obligation and transaction costs
- A summary of potential mitigation options for agriculture
- The relationship between productivity and mitigation
- Simple models of how points of obligation could work
- A methodology for a Cost Benefit Analysis
The focus of the discussion was how a farm level point of obligation might operate in practice. The main issues discussed were:
- How verification of a farm level point of obligation might work in practice
- Whether data collected now in various forms could be used to verify emission returns, or if there needed to be farm visits
- How audit of emissions returns could operate
- Costs other than verification and wanted more information on the other costs of a farm level point of obligation
- Whether data already collected could be used as a basis for emission calculations
- The need for a farm level point of obligation to enable farmers to respond innovatively to a price for carbon
- Mitigation cost curve work done by MAF and discussed the basis upon which it was constructed
Further work was commissioned on:
- A bottom up estimate of transaction costs for farm level point of obligation
- A description of how a processor point of obligation might work
- A summary of the information that could be used for verification
- Analysis of the question of whether the landowner or the stockowner should be the point of obligation
- Summary of issues for horticulture
The TAG will meet next in mid June to consider the work listed above as well as any implications arsing from the Select Committee considering the bill.
