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A new scrap and replace program to help low-income New Zealanders purchase EVs, as well as a nationalised curbside refuse collection service are part of a $2.9 billion investment to combat climate change and reduce New Zealand’s emissions.
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Budget 2022 included an emissions reduction plan. It allocated $650m to decarbonising energy and industry sectors and $710m for reducing agricultural emissions. Transport will receive $1.2b overall.
Finance Minister Grant Robertson said we need to prepare for climate change now – or prepare to pay for the cost of inaction for the “rest of our lives, the rest of our children’s lives and their children’s lives”.
“Today is the most important day in our country’s history regarding climate. I hope that climate will no longer be a political issue.
Robertson called policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions “not radical – they’re essential.”
He stated that the plan for today would ensure New Zealand was on right side of history.
Climate Change Minister James Shaw stated that it would “take all of us and it will take everything we have”.
Scrap-to-replace trial
Michael Wood, Transport Minister, stated that for many families, the cost of switching to cleaner vehicles can be too high even with the existing clean-car discount program.
The new clean car upgrading scheme, which will offer low and middle income people low- and moderate-emission options in exchange for their old car being scrapped, will see up to 2500 vehicles go through an initial trial. It will begin in the first quarter of next year, with a cost of $30m. The full program, which will cost $570m over four-years, is expected to be complete by 2024/25.
He stated that California had a similar program where 10,000 “old, filthy cars” were taken off the roads and replaced by new and more used vehicles. Hybrid and zero emission vehicles.
The $20m “social leasing trial” will be available to low-income families in three communities. They can lease EVs from an organisation starting in 2023.
Overall, $1.2b will go from the climate emergency response fund “to support people to move to public transport, increase walking and cycling, accelerate the uptake of cleaner vehicles… and decarbonise our freight system”.
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“That will reduce carbon emissions in a way equivalent to taking 181,000 cars off of the road between now 2035.
Transport Minister stated that they are considering a cap on car costs at $35,000 and offering a $10,000 subsidy to enable people to purchase an EV or hybrid.
Wood said that there was still some policy design to be done in the coming months. However, it was anticipated that the threshold would be about the median household’s income.
Waste
The Government wants to reduce waste emissions and divert organic material from landfill in order to cut down on greenhouse gasses.
By 2030, most New Zealanders should be able to access a food waste collection service. The Government will also invest in waste infrastructure such as composting.
All municipal landfills should have gas capture systems installed by 2026.
It will cost $103m over 4 years, with the largest investments occurring between 2022 and 2024.
Climate change funding
Grant Robertson, Finance Minister of New Zealand, stated that the $2.9b allocated over four years will move New Zealand away from “short-term piecesmeal responses” to long-term investment.
From future revenue, it is expected that another $1.5b will be invested in climate change. EMissions Trading Scheme.
It could mean that New Zealand may meet its requirements. first carbon budget; A limit was announced last week.
These limits are part the effort to have New Zealand net zero greenhouse gas emission by 2050.
New Zealand must reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 11.5 Megatonnes between 2022 and 2025. This is approximately the equivalent of five million petrol cars driving 10,000km per year.
Transport
$1.2b will go to transport. This includes continuing the clean car discount, improving EV charging stations, and establishing a zero emission bus fleet by 2030.
National integration will be possiblePublic transportNew projects in Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland involve ticketing. This will make public transport easier, cleaner, and more affordable.
Energy
Megan Woods, Energy Minister, said that rising global prices meant New Zealand had to “wean itself off” costly fossil fuels and ensure the future of its energy system.
Woods stated, “Emissions from the energy and industry sectors account for 27% of our total emission.”
Shaw stated that the government is increasing funding for businesses in order to “move toward cleaner, more economical, and more efficient energy choices.”
Woods stated that funding will rise to $650m in four years, which means that we can expand the types and number of projects that are funded.
Low-medium Temperature Coal boilersExisting ones will be phased out by 2037, and new ones will be banned.
Insulation
For new buildings, stronger insulation standards will “make them warmer and drier, while consuming 40% less energy to heat.”
Agriculture
It stated that New Zealand would be one of the most sustainable food providers in the world if it introduced a price on agricultural emissions starting in 2025 and “work alongside farmers with advices and technologies”.
$710m will be spent over four years to increase efforts to reduce emissions from agriculture, increase carbon reduction in forestry and produce ‘green’ energy.
“Our economic security depends upon New Zealand’s fibre and food sector,” said Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. “It’s the largest export earner, but also the largest contributor to emissions. If we don’t act now, we will be at high risk as consumer preferences change.”
“We have allocated nearly $339 million to accelerate the development and practice of high-impact technologies to reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emission, including the establishment a new centre for climate action on agriculture emissions.”
Forestry
Stuart Nash, Forestry Minister, stated that $73.5 million will be used to “increase woody biomass,” which is the best alternative to coal in efforts to reduce carbon emissions from fossilfuels.
It will have approximately 10,000ha of forest plantation.
“Forests are a natural resource that can store carbon in abundance. $256 million will be used to maximize the contribution of forestry to carbon sequestration in New Zealand.
Landmark day
Prime Minister Jacinda Adern said that the release of the emission reduction plan was a landmark in New Zealand’s transition to low emissions.
She stated that “we cannot ignore the issue of climate change until its too late to fix it.”
Ardern stated that addressing climate changes now “means we are able to bring down the cost for living”.
“Reducing our dependence on fossil fuels will protect households from the volatility in international price hikes and reduce transport and energy costs. The impact of rising petrol prices on household finances is already being felt. This plan outlines practical ways to reduce power, transport, and energy costs.
Shaw stated that it was a historic moment for climate action in Aotearoa.
He stated that New Zealand is on track to “reverse the curve of its emissions downwards for the very first time in human history”.
“The plan we published today lays out the path to a net-zero future in which more people can buy electric vehicles, cities have the best public and active transport infrastructures in the world, our highest emitters have switched over to reliable and clean energy, and farmers are producing food that helps the climate. This will make it easier for us to heat more homes and make them more affordable.
Reaction
David Seymour of ACT called the announcement a “bonanza for bureaucrats, and a travesty to taxpayers”.
“The Government chose the most costly and bureaucratic route to emissions reduction. They’ve maximised political theatre while actively rejecting the least-cost path to emissions reduction during a cost of living crisis.”
Rod Carr, Chair of the Climate Change Commission, stated that a good emission plan would demonstrate “urgency and decisiveness”, cohesion, and a willingness to collaborate.
“The transition will have a greater impact on certain communities, industries, and regions than others. To ensure that the transition is feasible, affordable, and socially acceptable, the Government must work with those most affected.
Andrew Hoggard, Federated Farmers, stated that he was pleased that the Government recognized that solutions to agricultural emissions lay in new technologies and tools and is increasing investment in this area.
“Nitrate and methane inhibitors, gene editing, animals bred for their lower methane ‘burping’ – they’re the kind of advances that will enable New Zealand’s farming sector to continue to perform for the nation’s economy while maintaining our world-leading meat and dairy carbon footprint,” he said.
Greenpeace claimed that the plan failed because of the “omission of milk pollution”.
Lead agriculture campaigner Christine Rose said it was “absolutely staggering to see that the Emissions Reduction Plan fails to include policy that would reduce cow numbers or phase out the synthetic nitrogen fertiliser that drive emissions”.
“This Emissions Reduction Plan is not credible, because it fails to address the dirty great cow in this room.
“Instead reducing cow numbers, the government is relying upon industry promises, hypothetical, unproven tech fixes to agricultural emission and freshwater reforms, which the dairy industry is undermining at each step.”
