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Climate Change Response Amendment Bill (Consistent) [2005] NZBORARp 5 (8 March 2005)
Last Updated: 15 September 2020
CLIMATE CHANGE RESPONSE AMENDMENT BILL 2005
8 March 2005
Attorney-General
LEGAL ADVICE
CONSISTENCY WITH THE NEW ZEALAND BILL OF RIGHTS ACT 1990:
CLIMATE CHANGE RESPONSE AMENDMENT BILL 2005
- We
have considered the Climate Change Response Amendment Bill (the "Bill") (PCO
version 5767/10) for consistency with the New Zealand
Bill of Rights Act 1990
(the "Bill of Rights Act"). We understand that this Bill is to be considered by
the Cabinet Legislation Committee
at its meeting on Thursday, 17 March
2005.
- The
Bill amends the Climate Change Response Act 2002 to ensure continued compliance
with New Zealand’s obligations under the
Kyoto Protocol. The Bill deals
with two issues. The first relates to New Zealand’s Kyoto Protocol
Registry and the second creates
a new mechanism as an incentive for landowners
to create permanent forest sinks.
- The
Bill introduces two new types of units, Temporary Certified Emission Reductions
(tCERS) and Long-term Certified Emission Reductions
(ICERS), for forest sink
projects. The creation of these new units came out of decisions from the ninth
Conference of the Parties
to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. In
order to meet our Kyoto Protocol obligations, New Zealand has to account for
these new types of units.
- The
Climate Change Response Act 2002 put in place a framework to allow New Zealand
to meet its international obligations under the
Kyoto Protocol. This included
the establishment of a national emissions unit register to account for holdings
and transfers of various
emission units. The Bill amends the Register to provide
for the accounting of these new types of units. It also makes provision for
legal entities other than the Crown to hold accounts in the unit register.
- The
Bill also provides for the establishment of a mechanism to allow landowners to
access the value, created under the Kyoto Protocol,
of sequestering carbon on
their land through establishing new forests. Participation in the new mechanism
is voluntary. The mechanism
acts as an incentive to landowners to create
permanent (non-harvest) forest sinks by providing that landowners can receive
returns
from such forests in proportion to the carbon sequestered by them. The
mechanism will be a contract (registered against land titles)
between the Crown
and a landowner.
- We
have concluded that the Bill appears to achieve overall consistency with the
Bill of Rights Act.
- In
accordance with previous practice, we attach a copy of this opinion for referral
to the Minister of Justice. We also attach a copy
for referral to the Convenor
of the Ministerial Group on Climate Change, if you
agree.
Roger Palairet Chief Legal Counsel Office of Legal Counsel
|
Boris van Beusekom Senior Legal Adviser Bill of Rights Team
|
cc Minister of Justice Convenor of the Ministerial Group on Climate
Change
|
|
In addition to the general disclaimer for all documents on this website,
please note the following: This advice was prepared to assist
the
Attorney-General to determine whether a report should be made to Parliament
under s 7 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990
in relation to the Climate
Change Response Amendment Bill 2005. It should not be used or acted upon for any
other purpose. The advice
does no more than assess whether the Bill complies
with the minimum guarantees contained in the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act. The
release of this advice should not be taken to indicate that the Attorney-General
agrees with all aspects of it, nor does its release
constitute a general waiver
of legal professional privilege in respect of this or any other matter. Whilst
care has been taken to
ensure that this document is an accurate reproduction of
the advice provided to the Attorney-General, neither the Ministry of Justice
nor
the Crown Law Office accepts any liability for any errors or omissions.
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