Hon Simon Watts
Minister of Climate Change

The Government’s draft Emissions Reduction Plan shows we can stay within the limits of the first two emissions budgets while growing the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says.

“This draft Emissions Reduction Plan shows that with effective climate change policies we can both grow the economy and deliver our climate change commitments.

“Our plan focuses on transitioning to a low-emission economy by leveraging the abundance of opportunities New Zealand has, including our unique landscape and resources.”

Reducing net emissions is one of the nine Government targets for achieving better results from the public service.

“This is the first opportunity to consult with New Zealanders on our plan to get the country on track for net zero emissions by 2050,” Mr Watts says.

“Earlier this month, the Government released our climate strategy. The Emissions Reduction Plan centres around the five core pillars of that strategy.”

Some key policies include:

• doubling renewable energy by reducing the consenting burden through Electrify NZ
• targeting 10,000 public EV chargers by 2030
• lowering agricultural emissions by giving farmers the tools to reduce emissions
• investing in resource recovery through the Waste Minimisation Fund
• investigating carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS).

“The consultation also covers how the Government intends to strengthen the NZ Emission Trading Scheme to support achieving our climate change targets, and other complementary policies,” Mr Watts says

“Changes made to actions or activities in the first Emissions Reduction Plan is also covered by the consultation. Projections show that we remain on track to meeting the first Emissions Budget, however we want to seek public feedback on the impact of the change in approach.

“The final Emissions Reduction Plan for the period 2026-2030 will be finalised by the end of this year after considering public feedback and advice from the Climate Change Commission.”

Notes

More information on the policy proposals, including a full discussion document and 12-page summary are available on the Ministry for the Environment’s website: https://consult.environment.govt.nz/climate/second-emissions-reduction-plan

The Ministry for the Environment’s website also has links to an online submission form, with options to answer as few or as many questions as people choose, and more information about how to register for events.

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