Climate change is the most pressing economic, social and environmental problem that government’s around the world face. Scientists have identified a window of 5-10 years in which urgent action must be taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In order to meet their responsibility to reduce emissions under the Kyoto Protocol the New Zealand Government announced in 2007 its intention to introduce an emissions trading scheme (ETS). The Press Release that accompanied this announcement stated: “ We want New Zealand to be the world’s first truly sustainable nation and we are committed to providing the sensible leadership to make that happen.” (Parker 2007) However, while the intention to implement a world leading policy initiative which would make New Zealand ‘the world’s first truly sustainable nation’ may have been sincere, the current proposal for the structure of the ETS will deliver no significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, will act as an impediment to the rapid implementation of less carbon intensive production technologies in the manufacturing industry and will do nothing to slow the destruction of forests to make way for increasingly greenhouse gas intensive forms of dairy farming.