Releasing a review of the emissions trading scheme (ETS) set up by the Labor government last year, the Green Party has said that the report has given the government the requisite mandate to move ahead with its climate change plan, which would provide no incentive for reducing emissions.

Describing that the report as a "middle road" through some "complex and contentious" material, Committee chairman Peter Dunne said that the government has the option of considering a huge array of opinion from an extensive spectrum of submitters.

Dunne said: "I think the report advances and clarifies the thinking around issues such as what New Zealand's response to climate change should be; whether an emissions trading scheme is a better approach than a carbon tax; the point of entry of various sectors into the ETS; and the need for ongoing monitoring and research."

Going by the proposal put forth by the report, the ETS would include a restriction on greenhouse gas emissions on all sectors of the economy; though all sectors would not come under the ETS simultaneously.

Though the review did not detail the timelines for the introduction of polluting sectors like agriculture to the ETS, its other recommendations included moving speedily to respond to climate change with the ETS mechanism; introducing a short-term carbon price 'cap'; and legislating the forestry sector to avoid delaying new plantings.