Ministerial Cars To Meet Tougher Emissions Standards

In a move to be duplicated across the public service, the government is taking immediate action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by requiring ministerial cars to meet tough new emissions standards, Climate Change Minister David Parker said today.

The change - announced today in Prime Minister Helen Clark's statement to Parliament - will see new vehicles that meet at least a Euro IV standard added to the fleet as vehicles come up for replacement.

"The Labour-led government believes in leadership by example," David Parker said. "We've announced today that we want the public service to use their purchasing power to buy sustainable goods and services and that needs to start at the top.

"The new Euro IV diesel vehicles will use an average of 30 per cent less fuel than a similar petrol vehicle and will emit significantly less greenhouse gases.

"We've also committed ourselves to reviewing this standard annually so we can keep pace with new sustainable vehicle technologies as they're introduced to the market."

Today's change follows a review of the ministerial fleet by the Ministry of Transport, which identified significant savings in the areas of CO2 emissions, fuel use and cost. The review - released today - is part of the wider Govt3 fleet review initiative, which aims to identify opportunities to improve sustainability, safety and cost effectiveness across the government fleet.

The review found potential three year savings of 550 tonnes of CO2, 400,000 litres of fuel and half a million dollars could be achieved by replacing the current ministerial fleet with more fuel efficient, lower emission vehicles that are equally fit for purpose.

The review was one of 21 to be carried out into government vehicle fleets Five have now been completed with the remainder to be completed by June this year.

ENDS

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