Pricing agricultural emissions | Have your say

Last week the Government released its proposals to price agricultural greenhouse gas emissions from 2025 in response to recommendations from the He Waka Eke Noa partnership and advice from the Climate Change Commission.

The Government’s document supports most of the partnership’s recommendations and is proposing to introduce a farm-level levy with separate prices for short and long-lived gases. The document proposes alternative approaches in some areas, including how sequestration is recognised.

This table outlines all the He Waka Eke Noa recommendations and the Government’s proposals.

ANZCO and the wider red meat sector are currently working through the Government’s proposals in more detail to examine the Government’s modelling of the impacts and to fully understand the implications of the proposed changes. 

The Government has signalled it is interested in feedback and working with industry so it’s important the sector takes the time to read the document and submit on it.

Consultation now open

You can read the Government’s full document here or the summary is available here.

Industry templates will be provided to help you provide feedback focusing on a few key areas including;

• a farm-level, split gas levy for pricing emissions
• options for pricing synthetic nitrogen fertiliser emissions
• an interim processor-level levy, as a transitional step if the farm-level pricing system cannot be implemented in time
• recognition of sequestration

You can make a submission by visiting the Ministry for the Environment’s website.

Submissions close on 18 November 2022.

Online meetings

Online meetings and hui are planned and are an opportunity to ask questions. A schedule is available here.

Next steps

Your feedback will be considered, prior to the Climate Change and Agriculture Ministers publishing a report on the pricing system by the end of this year. Final proposals will go to Cabinet for approval in early 2023.