350 Aotearoa campaigner Adam Currie said “To demonstrate the incredibly tiny scope of emissions reductions included in the plan, we took a miniscule version of the ERP to Parliament. The government is trying to have its cake and eat it too. Meanwhile, the government is fast-tracking coal mines and motorways, slashing public transport funding, and overturning the ban on oil & gas exploration. Projections released with the Emissions Reduction Plan today show the government is on track to exceed the third emissions budget, and will not meet NZ’s obligations under the Paris Accords. This will mean tens of billions of dollars being sent offshore to pay for international climate mitigation, when we should be investing in climate action here in NZ that creates jobs, cleans up our air, saves thousands of lives, and makes all our lives better.”

“Gas is not a climate solution - we know that the lifetime emissions of gas are at least as high as coal, when accounting for methane leakage. There is no place for gas, oil or coal in the just transition to a cleaner, fairer energy future for Aotearoa. As gas supplies dry up, it is crucial New Zealand invests in and enables community solar and wind - or else struggling households will face skyrocketing energy bills”, says Currie.

"The government's climate plan relies on an unproven technofix to fix the climate; namely Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). After many years of CCS projects across the world, it’s clear that it does not work. Take Gorgon, the world's biggest CCS venture. Emissions from the project have risen 50%. Despite approvals based on burying 4m tonnes of CO2 a year, it managed to bury 1.6m tonnes last year, emitting 8.3m tonnes. As experts from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis put it; ‘If Chevron, Exxon and Shell can’t get Gorgon’s carbon capture and storage to work, who can?’ The last time an Australian government gave the coal industry money to spend on CCS research, they spent it on a pre-election ad campaign! CCS is also prohibitively expensive: far more so than building enough renewables and battery storage, so we don’t have to burn fossil fuels in the first place. Finally, let's not forget NZ is prone to earthquakes, which could easily rupture any CO2 reservoir. Instead of groping for false solutions, the government should simply support the basic climate actions that we know will slash emissions and create jobs - such as investment in public/active transport, support for community solar, and a phase-out of the dirty fossil fuels that is poisoning our air. Let's not forget that air pollution from cars alone kills thousands of New Zealanders every year.'

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