Voluntary Carbon Markets

Voluntary Carbon Markets: Analysis of risks and opportunities — Investigating the social dynamics of emissions trading scenarios in New Zealand's pastoral sector

Principal investigator: Dr Chris Rosin

Subcontractor: Rob Burton (AgResearch)

Staff involved: Chris Rosin, Mark Cooper, Tanja Maegli

Brief abstract

The project was designed in response to the desire of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to gain better understanding of the impact of proposed emissions trading policies on the pastoral sector as well as the response of farmers to such policy.

Based on parameters and criteria set in a meeting with members of MAF's climate change policy team, a series of interviews were conducted with farmers in which various aspects of greenhouse gas mitigation policy — including the estimated costs of carbon credits to off-set a given farm's emissions—were introduced and explained.

During the interview stage, it became very apparent that most of the farmers being interviewed had only limited understanding of climate change and the role that greenhouse gas emissions and carbon cycling. They had even more limited knowledge of the implications of the proposed mitigation policies and were generally dismayed when confronted with their potential liabilities.