NZ offers free research to poor states

Research from a New Zealand-led project to cut greenhouse gas emissions from farms will be given free to developing countries, says Environment Minister Nick Smith.

Dr Smith, who will lead New Zealand's delegation to the Copenhagen climate conference, said the benefits of the Government's Global Alliance would not be protected by companies but would be shared free with poorer nations.

The Government wants its contribution to the research alliance to count towards its share of payments to help developing countries cope with climate change.

But the plan may strike opposition from some developing nation advocates, because the Global Alliance also benefits New Zealand by helping it avoid liability for emissions from agriculture.

New Zealand is almost unique among developed countries in that half its emissions under international limits are from agriculture, but many developing countries are in a similar positions.

Dr Smith said such countries needed agriculture to help feed their populations and the Global Alliance could help them do that while offering ways to cut emissions.

"They need to know countries like New Zealand are committed to helping them address those problems,." he added.

Success at the talks may require rich countries to pledge billions to help poor nations cope with the impacts of a changing global climate.

Major developing country emitters such as China and India are unlikely to limit their access to the fossil fuels that made industrialised countries wealthy without rich-country funding to help.

New Zealand has agreed to help but Dr Smith said New Zealand would prefer to put its money into something "concrete" such as the Global Alliance rather than into a large United Nations fund for mitigation and adaptation that will be shared between developing countries.

He said there was a direct relationship between how much New Zealand ultimately agreed to put into the global alliance and the UN adaptation fund, and how much it would commit to cut greenhouse gases - hinting that a tougher emissions target would mean less money for developing countries.

Asked whether New Zealand's target of cutting emissions by 10-20 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020 was open to negotiation, Dr Smith said that he, Prime Minister John Key and negotiating minister Tim Groser had some discretion about what they could agree to, but the target was unlikely to change. Any change would need to be approved by a full Cabinet, he said.

The target is conditional on New Zealand negotiators making progress in a number of areas that may affect the economy, including rules around when carbon from felled forests is deemed to be released and whether forests planted before 1990 can be re-planted elsewhere without penalty.

Dr Smith said having John Key there for the final days of the conference would make it easier to engage in any last-minute deal-making. "The Prime Minister has control of the major decisions," he said.