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Climate Change Minister James Shaw reveals the Government’s Emission Reduction Plan to Parliament. Video / Mark Mitchell
A majority of the cars on the roads will be hybrids or electric, and high-emitting vehicles (high-emitting) will be banned under a plan that the Government has not revealed.
The $4.5 Billion in funding announced today will reduce global warming. It will also help to avoid the catastrophic effects of climate changes.
It also includes half a billion dollars to help low-income families shift to electric and hybrid vehicles – part of the Government’s commitment to ensuring climate action does not further entrench inequality.
The Government’s Emissions reduction Plan (ERP), which was unveiled today, is one of Aotearoa’s most important and ambitious steps towards tackling a climate crisis fast approaching 1.5C and reaching net-zero greenhouse gases emissions by 2050.
It strives to be the first to do so by meeting Three emissions budgets are initially set to 2035These are supported by Parliament.
Grant Robertson, Deputy Prime Minster, stated that it was the most significant day in the country’s history regarding climate action.
Transport is the main focus of the plan, which accounts for 17% of total emissions and has increased 76% since 1990.
James Shaw, Climate Change Minister said that the plan would “lay a path towards a net-zero future”.
“Where more people are able to purchase electric vehicles (EVs), our cities have world-leading active and public transport infrastructure, our highest emissionters have switched to reliable and clean energy, our farmers are producing food in ways that help the environment, and our homes are more comfortable and affordable to heat.
Shaw was asked if the Government had acted fast enough in light of the immediate threat of climate changes. He replied that it had taken “30+ years to get to where we are now”.
He said that we should always go “further & faster” but he was confident about the plan.
Shaw said that the plan was based in principles like New Zealand contributing to the global effort, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, equity and working with nature to address biodiversity crisis. All of these principles are essential to building a more productive and sustainable economy.
The $1.2 billion boost to the transport sector will include $569m for Clean Car Upgrade. This program will help lower-income households swap high-emitting vehicles for electric or hybrid alternatives.
Initial support for the trial will be 2500 vehicles
Shaw stated that equity was a key focus of the plan, and that climate action should not “further entrench inequality.”
The long-awaited plan also aims to achieve previously announced goals of zero emissions for 30% of light vehicles by 2035 and a reduction of total driving by a fifth.
These are designed to encourage uptake, as at March EVs accounted for fewer than 40,000 of more than 3.3 million light vehicles on our roads – just over 1 per cent – despite recently-announced measures like new import standards and “feebates” that target polluting vehicles.
The Government has required that all public transport buses be zero-emission by 2035. Zero emissions buses will only be allowed to enter the country after 2025.
Robertson stated that while the plan does not include any commitments to continue the half price public transport fares scheme but that Robertson was still reviewing the matter ahead of the release on Thursday of the full Budget.
The plan does support a congestion charge for Auckland. A decision is expected later in the year.
Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister, said it was a “landmark moment” in the transition to a low-emission future.
“We have all seen the recent reports about sea level rise and its effects right here in New Zealand,” Ardern said. Ardern said that we cannot ignore the issue of climate change until it is too late to fix. This was a result of Covid-19.
Robertson today unveiled the Climate Emergency Response Fund, created with $4.5b Emissions Trading Scheme revenue. This fund will finance many of the actions.
Initial funds will be $2.9b in four years.
Māori have long been recognised as among the most vulnerable groups to climate-change impacts due to their “significant reliance on the environment as a cultural, social and economic resource”.
The Māori economy relied heavily on primary industries, and many communities were near the coast. Already many urupā (burial grounds) and marae were being flooded or washed into the sea.
Shaw said empowering Māori to lead responses to climate change and upholding Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles were one of the key focuses in the plan. This included developing a specific Māori Climate Strategy and Action Plan.
The Government did not accept the bold proposal by the Climate Commission to reduce dairy, beef, and sheep numbers by 15% this decade in the agricultural sector. This was as expected.
That’s largely because the Government is negotiating separately with the industry through the He Waka Eke Noa programme – and big decisions around emissions cuts aren’t likely until later in the year.
The plan only expects a 0.3-3.7MT reduction in C02 equivalents by 2025. However, by then, the sector will be included in the Emissions trading Scheme.
Damien O’Connor, Agriculture Minister said that although he admitted that initial targets were modest, he was confident the sector will meet its targets to reduce biogenic Methane emissions by 10 per cent by 2030 compared to 2017 levels and between 24 to 47 per cent by 2050.
Despite agriculture being exempt from the Emissions Trading Scheme, the sector will receive $710m in funds over four years to help reduce emissions and develop “green fuels”.
About 50% of emissions came out of agriculture, with 23.5 percent coming from dairy cattle.
Between 1990 and 2020, the sector emitted 17% more than it did in 1990. This was mainly due to an 81% increase in dairy herds and an increase in synthetic nitrogen use by 693 percent.
Robertson responded to questions about how it was fair that the sector was given funding but not contributed to it. He said that these funds would help lower those emissions.
Shaw stated that while emissions pricing under the Emissions Trading Scheme will continue to be a key component of reducing emissions it was not considered the most cost-effective. However, it would work well with other measures in this plan.
Other targets include reducing landfill waste emissions. Most houses will have food waste collection by 2030. In 2035, freight emissions would also be reduced to 35%.
Shaw stated that the energy sector was another focus. It accounted for 27% of all emissions.
These actions included the ban of new coal boilers and the elimination of old ones by 2037.
A little over $650m has been allocated to the decarbonizing industry in the four years up to 2026. An additional $330m was added over three years.
Funding could also be used to develop an energy strategy and use alternative fuels such as hydrogen or those derived from biomass.
The carbon budgets that we have now confirmed, which take us out to 2035 are very similar to the one the Climate Commission recommended almost a year ago. They also match what the Government proposed in its draft version of the emissions plan.
The Government wants to keep CO2e emissions to around 290 megatonnes (MtCO2e), or slightly less than what we have projected for the first period. This is up until 2025.
While the allowance lifts slightly over the second period – that’s 305 MtCO2e between 2026 and 2030 – it’s still calculated to be about 20 per cent less than what the country pumped into the atmosphere in the five years to 2021.
The 3rd 240 MtCO2e budget for 2031-2035 represents a 35% reduction.
