WELLINGTON, Nov 13 (Reuters) - The New Zealand government voiced confidence on Friday of finalising its plan to cut carbon emissions before next month's Copenhagen climate summit, even though it has yet to secure majority political support. The minority government, which came to office last year vowing to overhaul the previous administration's newly minted carbon laws, wants more aid for heavy emitters and delayed entry for the farm sector, which accounts for about half of emissions. The government has yet to strike a deal with the minor parties, but there are no indications of the kind of deadlock that has paralysed neighbouring Australia's efforts to implement its carbon pollution reduction scheme. For more see [CARBONAU] The main parties to negotiations have all declined to comment on progress of the talks, though a spokesman for Climate Change Minister Nick Smith said the government was on track to have an amended scheme in place by the Copenhagen summit in mid-December. "If we can get that in place it does put us in a stronger position in Copenhagen," the spokesman told Reuters on Friday. "The government is revising the ETS to reduce the costs to households and the impact on jobs while ensuring New Zealand takes a responsible approach to the global problem of greenhouse gas pollution and climate change," Smith said in a statement. It has set a target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by between 10 and 20 percent by 2020 on 1990 levels, depending on the outcome of the Copenhagen meeting. For a factbox on the proposed changes see [ID:nWEL486229], and for a factbox on New Zealand's emissions profile see [ID:nWEL472043] A parliamentary committee is considering amendments to the scheme and is due to report back on Monday. Alterations can still be made to the bill, and with support the government can push though the changes in as little as a few days. The centre-right National Party has 58 seats in the 122-seat parliament and governs through support arrangements with the Maori and Act parties, which each have five seats, and the single member of the United Future party. The Maori Party backed the legislation in its initial stage but has not committed to supporting it all the way through parliament. The Act Party opposes an ETS, saying a carbon tax is preferable. The likely partners to support changes are expected to be either the Maori Party or the main opposition Labour Party, who implemented the current scheme before being ousted in a general election in November 2008. Both the Maori Party and the centre-left Labour Party did not offer a comment on negotiations. Business groups have largely backed the changes proposed by National, while environmental groups say it does not go far enough in putting the onus on large polluters to cut emissions. (Reporting by Adrian Bathgate; Editing by Sugita Katyal)
A view of the Huayna Potosi glacier in the Bolivian highlands, some 30 km (19 miles) from La Paz, November 7, 2009. From the Himalayas to the Andes, faster-melting glaciers spell ...
