JUST GOOD BUSINESS: Smart dollars follow ETS

The push to reduce carbon emissions is shifting global economic strategies – and New Zealand needs to move fast to realise the economic benefits, says Peter Neilson, CEO NZ Business Council for Sustainable Development.
Recent developments he highlights include the Energy Efficiency Administration report in the US which concludes that if the country achieves goal of cutting emissions by 25 percent by 2025, it will: increase farm income by $180 billion, including $37 billion in 2025 alone; generate $700 billion in new economic activity year; create four to five million new jobs; and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by one billion tons.
The United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) estimates that the market for clean energy technology could be worth US$1.9 trillion by the year 2020. In New Zealand, says Neilson, we have seen the debate dominated by older industries’ concerns, some legitimate, about being exposed too quickly and unfairly to overseas competitors who might not pay price on carbon. “Once the emissions trading law is passed, the focus has to move quickly to creating massive new export and job opportunities for New Zealand by joining the effort to lower, and live within, global emissions cap.”