Fighting climate change means transforming the global economy and UN institutions are not yet robust enough for the job, says Australia's top UN climate change negotiator Howard Bamsey. But there are 'reasons for optimism' in international climate talks and Australia and New Zealand can potentially 'strongly influence' the outcome, he says.
A senior NZ climate official today said her country could handle the 'in-law issues' associated with linking to Australia's trading regime, but suggested a 'pre-nup' might be a sensible precaution in case policy differences emerge.
Meanwhile, Anthea Harris of Australia's Department of Climate Change warned against a marriage of the two schemes until they 'come of age'.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd this morning told an Auckland climate conference new energy efficiency measures are on the way for business and stoutly defended the Government’s focus on carbon capture and storage.
Both Rudd and his New Zealand counterpart Helen Clark stressed strong domestic action as a precondition for influencing international talks, with Clark saying the role of ‘fast follower’ was not good enough.
Many bilateral investment agreements and free trade agreements give foreign investors broad powers to seek compensation for legislative changes – and these could prove a major global stumbling block to efforts to introduce climate change legislation, according to lawyer and academic Kate Miles.
