Labour Party abandons pledge to price agricultural emissions

The New Zealand Labour Party has announced it will no longer campaign on pricing agricultural emissions, ending a policy commitment held by the party since 2008. Leader Chris Hipkins stated that while the party remains committed to reducing emissions, it will not make pricing methane a default approach and will instead work with farmers and exporters to find alternative solutions.

This policy shift has received cautious support from agricultural industry groups, including Federated Farmers and Beef + Lamb New Zealand. Representatives from these organizations noted the significance of the change but emphasized the need for formal guarantees that emissions pricing will not be reintroduced through future coalition negotiations.

Additionally, Labour has pledged an urgent review of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), arguing that current carbon prices are too low to drive meaningful reductions. The party also intends to pause new forestry registrations during this review to prevent productive farmland from being converted into carbon forestry offsets.