Business Calls For Greater Ambition And Engagement In Response To Emissions Reduction Plan

The Sustainable Business Council (SBC) and the Climate Leaders Coalition (CLC) welcome the release of the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) discussion document and call for greater engagement with the business community to close the emissions gap identified.

"While we welcome the ambition set out by the Minister of Climate Change today, we note that the detailed policies and actions set out in the discussion document fall short of the proposed emissions budgets. It is clear that further work is required to develop the detail of the ERP to ensure we are doing our bit to support international efforts to limit global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees," says SBC Executive Director Mike Burrell.

"By engaging sustainable businesses in that process, we remain confident that together, the private sector, civil society, and government, can meet the challenge and create a plan that Aotearoa New Zealand can get behind. We look forward to being consulted on the Draft Plan in early 2022, before the Final Plan is released in May."

The SBC and CLC put forward a number of recommendations to the Climate Change Commission (the Commission), many of which were reflected in the Commission’s final advice.

"The Commission’s advice provides clear pathways to deliver on our emissions reductions. We urge Government to reflect more of this advice in the final ERP in order to provide the clarity, confidence, and certainty that businesses need to make investment decisions that will enable the transition to a low-emissions and climate-resilient future," says Mr Burrell.

"Once finalised, the ERP will be a critical step to get us on track to a low-emissions future in which people and nature thrive. But that requires ambition and pace - and needs to start now."

Mike Bennetts, Z Energy Chief Executive and CLC Convenor, says the ERP will be significant to all businesses, and all New Zealanders.

"It is clear that the task of transitioning to a low-emissions economy is enormous and there is a lot of work to be done. For this plan to be successful, it will require a genuine partnership between government and business. We must work in lock-step to ensure we are able to bend the emissions curve in the short amount of time we have left. Our signatories are ready to work alongside Government to make that happen."

SBC and CLC already have members working collaboratively to develop solutions to drive down emissions in a range of areas, including transport, agriculture, and industrial process heat. Both organisations have concrete ideas, and our members are already taking bold and urgent action to ensure an equitable and enduring transition for all of Aotearoa New Zealand.

SBC and CLC are now turning their attention to working through the details with their members, in order to develop a considered submission on the discussion document to present to Government.

About SBC

The Sustainable Business Council (SBC) is a CEO-led membership organisation with over 100 businesses from all sectors, ambitious for a sustainable New Zealand. Members represent more than $111 billion of collective turnover, 34% of GDP, and more than 179,000 full-time jobs. Our network gives members unparalleled influence and the ability to take large-scale collective action. SBC is part of the BusinessNZ network and is the New Zealand Global Network partner to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. www.sbc.org.nz

About CLC

The Climate Leaders Coalition (CLC) was launched in July 2018 with 60 original signatories to promote business leadership and collective action on climate change. With 105 signatories, they now account for almost 60% of New Zealand’s gross emissions, around 38% of GDP, and employ almost 220,000 people. Signatory commitments include measuring and publicly reporting their greenhouse gas emissions, setting a public emissions reduction target, and working with suppliers to reduce their emissions. www.climateleaderscoalition.org.nz

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