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John Key - Source: ONE News -
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John Key says there is "no chance" New Zealand will follow Australia's lead and shelve the Emissions Trading Scheme and denies it will be a burden on New Zealanders' pockets.
Key told TV ONE's Breakfast programme New Zealand's ETS is "modest" and households will only be paying $3 a week.
"The question is for a household, are they prepared to pay $3 a week for the insurance premium of our environment? I think the answer to that is 'yes'."
Australia earlier this month shelved its Emissions Trading Scheme until 2013, due to parliamentary opposition and slow progress on a global climate pact.
But Key says it is inevitable Australia will have to enact the ETS fairly soon, and that New Zealand will need an ETS as well, because without it our goods will "very likely" be rejected internationally.
"If our goods got blocked in international markets, or if we were seen to not be playing our part when it comes to climate change, I think that would be bad for us."
He says the belief that New Zealand is leading the way with its ETS is a myth.
"Of the 38 countries that signed the Kyoto protocol, 29 of them have an ETS. All 29 have almost double the cost that we have."
Twenty-five of the 27 European Union states have joined the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme. Eleven US states also have their own ETS.
Key denies the government is set to make money out of the scheme and says the aim is to change people's behaviour.
The government will be paying $1.6 billion primarily to foresters to plant trees over five years. It would get $900 million from taxpayers and $600m from other ETS revenue gathering, he says.
The ETS comes into force on July 1. Information sessions on the scheme are to be held around the country in June for households, farmers and small businesses.
