Browsing by Author "Churchill, James"

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Open Access
Emissions Trading Schemes and Carbon Taxes: Reinvestigating the Policy Tools New Zealand uses to Address Climate Change
(Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, 2016) Churchill, James
In 2016 there is scientific consensus that the climate is changing and humans are responsible. If significant action to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions does not occur, the consequences of climate change may be catastrophic. This paper analyses the use of market based policy tools to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in New Zealand. In particular, it considers whether the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme should be replaced with a carbon tax. This is done by weighing the difficulties involved in implementing a carbon tax against the benefits that it could bring. Key difficulties discussed include the treatment of stockpiled emissions credits that exist within the New Emissions Trading Scheme and the changing treatment of agriculture and forestry. Potential benefits of a carbon tax include reduced administrative and transactional costs, revenue generation and insulation from vested interests. This paper concludes that the difficulties involved in implementing a carbon tax as New Zealand’s main response to climate change are exceeded by the benefits.
Open Access
Regulating for Disruption: A Case Study of the Outer Space Law Reform
(Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, 2017) Churchill, James
Technology is changing the world faster than ever before, and many conventional industries are at risk of being disrupted. If New Zealand want be successful in a changing environment it needs to be prepared to facilitate more innovative and technologically intensive industries. This paper considers the law reform process that has sought to develop a framework for a commercial launch industry in New Zealand. By using this process as a case study some broader insight is provided into how effective New Zealand’s law reform process is at regulating for disruption. This paper begins by telling the story of Rocket Lab and Peter Beck in order to demonstrate why this reform was necessary. It then considers several discrete elements of the law reform process such as: the framing of the outer space reform, the incorporation of bilateral and multilateral treaties, regulation through contract and integration of the outer space reform within New Zealand’s environmental law framework. This paper discusses some of the unique and innovative approaches that characterise this reform. It also criticises are few elements of New Zealand’s law reform process and considers how they can be improved.