Government consulting on emissions pricing

The Government plans to introduce a levy on agricultural emissions of greenhouse gases. This will apply to farmers on the Chatham Islands with more than 550 units of sheep and/or cattle. The consultation period is now open and you can find more information by following the links below.

Agriculture contributes half of our total greenhouse gas emissions. Many farmers and growers are already reducing their emissions. However, further work is needed to help Aotearoa New Zealand become a low-emissions country.

To encourage more climate-friendly agriculture, the Government is proposing:

• a farm-level, split-gas levy for pricing agricultural emissions
• two options for pricing synthetic nitrogen fertiliser emissions
• an interim processor-level levy as a transitional step if the farm-level levy cannot be implemented by 2025
• recognition for some types of sequestration in an adjacent contractual system from 2025, with a long-term goal of the integration of new vegetation categories into the NZ Emissions Trading Scheme.

No feedback is sought on any other matters already set out in the Climate Change Response Act 2022 (CCRA).

For an overview of the proposals and an opportunity to ask questions, register for one of the Ministry for the Environment's (MfE) webinars(external link).

As a member of the public, you can make a submission on the Government's proposal. Submissions must be received by MfE by 18 November 2022.

You can make a submission here(external link).