Wine and beer producers in New Zealand have been awarded the right to apply for carbon dioxide emissions permits under the Climate Change Act, as part of the country’s effort to curb the nation’s dependence on foreign oil.
The New Zealand Wine and Beer Association has been granted the right for two months to apply to the Department of Conservation for permits to emit CO2, which would be recorded as greenhouse gas emissions.
The permit will be issued by the Department and will be valid for a maximum period of 20 years.
It comes amid growing concern about the impact of the CO2 emissions from the booming domestic wine industry.
The export of wine has also seen the number of wines sold in New York fall by nearly half to 1.1 billion in 2016, according to Wine Advocate, a trade association.
The association has argued that a reduction in wine production would not be offset by higher prices for imported wine.
The government has been keen to build on its success in cutting CO2 emission from its own industries, as the country is facing a worsening drought.
But as New Zealand’s wine industry faces rising CO2 levels, the country has been reluctant to act.
Photo: AP While the government has approved an ambitious plan to cut greenhouse gas pollution, there is little sign of any action in the food industry, which is also facing rising CO02 levels.
New Zealand is the only country in the world that has a CO2 limit on its wine and beer exports.
It aims to cut its CO2 by 70 per cent by 2050.
In a bid to address the growing issue, New Zealanders voted in a national referendum in November 2017 to introduce a limit on the amount of wine that can be exported from the country to foreign countries.
A new plan for the export of alcohol, known as the Liquor Emissions Reduction Plan, has been put to the New Zealand Parliament by the New Zealander Government.
A spokesperson for the Liquors and Gaming Commission said the plan would provide certainty and support the Australian-based wine industry to reduce CO2.
However, the spokesman did not comment on whether the proposed export limits would apply to wine and alcohol products produced in New Guinea.
“The Liquor Regulation Act states that no export from New Zealand to Australia may exceed 0.5 per cent of the total Australian wine market value.
However this is only a part of our export market which is more than $10 billion,” the spokesperson said.
