Emissions trading law welcomed as essential for New Zealand's trading future more work now needed

Business leaders tonight welcomed the passage of emissions trading law as an essential step for New Zealand to preserve its exporting and tourism future.

Putting a price on carbon will encourage New Zealand businesses to adapt to a low-carbon future.

While putting a price on emissions is essential to help future-proof the country, much more still needs to be done, the New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development says.

The Business Council, whose 73 members' annual sales of $44 billion equate to about 34% of gross domestic product in dollar terms, has been advocating emissions pricing since 2003.

Business Council Chief Executive Peter Neilson says the passage of the emissions trading law is welcomed. It puts a trading mechanism in place.

Now more needs to be done, including:

- stating the cap which will apply to emissions, so trading can be conducted within that limit, and introducing

- complimentary measures to help businesses and households adjust to a lower-carbon world, particularly in sectors not yet covered by a price on carbon.

Mr Neilson says some of the complimentary measures should include

- incentives to scrap energy-inefficient, high emission and polluting vehicles, like older diesel ones, which continue to produce the major share of our urban air pollution

- continuing Government engagement with business to minimise any adverse impacts of introducing a price on emissions

- taking every step to ensure that the international agreement replacing Kyoto from 2013 is as comprehensive as possible – and particularly covers the key competitors of our trade-exposed sectors.

"While we now have the most comprehensive emissions trading scheme in the world, we have to ensure we catch up with other countries in our actions to reduce emissions.

"Our politicians who have passed this bill deserve our congratulations for putting our future ahead of short term political advantage. It is difficult to ask the population to take action to deal with greenhouse gases, something we can't see, and to take actions which will mostly benefit those who have not yet been born - at a cost to the current generation of consumers," Mr Neilson says.

"The action taken is essential to our trading future. Consumers across the world are increasingly deciding to buy based on products' and services' environmental performance and not just price and quality.

"We now have an incentive to invest in a lower-carbon economy, improvement the environment – and protect and expand market share."