Canada adopts "kiwi" climate friendly car proposal

27 March 2007

Media Release

Canada adopts "kiwi" incentive proposal to boost climate friendly car fleet

The Canadian Government is going to pay climate friendly car buyers a $2000 cash incentive in a policy similar to one business has recommended to the New Zealand Government.

In its recently announced 2007 Budget, the Conservative Government announced it will also impose a new "green levy" of up to $4000 on gas guzzlers.

The policy is similar to one being advocated here by the New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development, whose 53 members' annual sales equate to about 30% of the country's gross domestic product.

The Business Council, as a result of a major research project involving 16 organisations, including the motor industry, has been recommending the Government here pay cash incentives of up to $3000 to buyers of fuel efficient, low emission cars and light vehicles. It also recommends a $2000 penalty on vehicles using more than 12 litres per 100 kilometres of petrol or 11.1 litres per 100 km of diesel.

The Canadian Government is also offering an extra $6 million a year in "scrappage fees" – paid to get older polluting vehicles off the road.

Business Council Chief Executive Peter Neilson says in New Zealand cash incentives have 62% voter support. They would get 430,000 fuel efficient, low emission vehicles into the nation's four million vehicle fleet within five years – and "make a huge difference very quickly".

"Carrots like this are going to be better understood, better supported and have a bigger and faster impact than other ideas, like forcing vehicle importers to achieve an average fuel efficiency among the vehicles they sell, or having annual registration fees tied to engine size," Mr Neilson says.

"Unfortunately if policies are based on cars' engine sizes, then they don't recognise the fuel efficiency and low emissions qualities of many vehicles. A hybrid, for example, will be rated on its 1.3 litre petrol engine, when it has a capacity of 1.8 litres when its electric motor is being used. The engine sizes of some modern diesel cars don't correspond with the fact they are very low emission and fuel efficient vehicles. Schemes to label vehicles for fuel efficiency, and not emissions efficiency, won't tell buyers all they need to know.

"The country needs to spend the money to develop a database on vehicles' emissions standards and pollution impacts, and reward buyers for making really positive impacts on emissions.

"The Canadians are providing an excellent lead. We should follow. We have one of the world's oldest and most-polluting car fleets. We keep adding hundreds of thousands of older-technology cars to the fleet each year. A cash incentive will provide the opportunity for the country and car buyers, especially company fleet users, to quickly go into bat to for better efficiency and air quality."

The Business Council's polling on the climate friendly car policy submission to Government is at http://www.nzbcsd.org.nz/project.asp?ProjectID=29

Polling on the policy is at http://www.nzbcsd.org.nz/story.asp?id=607

The Canadian Government statement on its latest green car policies is at
http://www.fin.gc.ca/news07/07-024e.html

ENDS

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