New heavy industry should not get ETS protection, says Upton

New heavy industry should not get ETS protection, says Upton
Gavin Evans
New Zealand is not an industrial economy and should resist offering support to new emissions-intensive businesses keen to establish here to take advantage of the country’s renewable energy resources, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment says.Under the emissions trading scheme, a firm wanting to establish some new activity – for example a nickel smelter - would be able to seek a free allocation of emission credits from the government if it could show it was threatened by overseas rivals, commissioner Simon Upton told MPs at a selec...

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Staff reporters 09 Sep 2025