Source: New Zealand Labour Party
New Zealand committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions gradually so that by 2050, we’re at net-zero, meaning the minimal emissions we do make are offset by things like planting trees.
Labour had a workable, long-term plan to manage the way we got to net-zero. But under National’s new Emissions Reductions Plan, we’ll miss this target. National are unwinding important progress, leaving future generations to pick up the tab. If New Zealand misses its own targets, we will need to pay even more for expensive offshore mitigation projects.
The Government is offering almost no policy to reduce pollution from livestock and is failing to maintain the electric vehicle uptake rates achieved under Labour. They’re also repealing the oil and gas exploration ban and prioritising undemocratic and destructive fast-track legislation.
These choices show the National Government is out of touch with New Zealanders, who want to see our environment protected and climate targets reached. We need to be taking bold action to transform our economy and ensure our people, homes and livelihoods are secure into the future.
- What can we do? Consultation is currently open on the Emissions Reduction Plan for communities to have their say. We have created a guide with suggestions for submitting on the Plan, which is open for consultation until Sunday August 25.
- How do I submit? There are options to take a shorter (four question) or longer survey. You can fill in as many questions as you like.
Below, we have provided suggested answers to the four ‘General Consultation Questions’. Feel free to edit our guide based on your own knowledge and local priorities, to make sure your voice is heard.
Suggestions for submitting on New Zealand’s second emissions reduction plan
Consultation Question 1: What do you think is working well in New Zealand to reduce our emissions and achieve the 2050 net zero target?
The previous Labour Government had a workable, long-term plan to meet our emissions targets.
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods.
Under the Government’s plan, we are going to blow our carbon budget by 17 million tonnes – the equivalent of 153 million car trips from Wellington to Auckland.
Banning offshore oil and gas was also an important part of achieving net zero by 2050. The reversal of the offshore oil and gas exploration ban will see an additional 51 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions pumped into the atmosphere by 2050.
We urge the reconsideration and the return to these forward-thinking climate policies, which were generating a substantial reduction in emissions and keeping us on track to meet our climate targets.
Consultation Question 2. The Government is taking a ‘net-based approach’ that uses both emissions reductions and removals to reduce overall emissions in the atmosphere (rather than an approach that focuses only on reducing emissions at the source). A net-based approach is helpful for managing emissions in a cost-effective way that helps grow the economy and increase productivity in New Zealand.
A) What do you see as the key advantages of taking a net-based approach?
We need to ensure a transition is a just transition; a net-based approach can be used as a tool to help us get there.
B) What do you see as the key challenges to taking a net-based approach?
A net-based approach, including planting trees, is an important aspect of our climate response. However, it should not be used instead of focusing on climate mitigation. If New Zealand misses its own targets, we could end up paying billions extra to other countries for climate projects, to make up the shortfall.
The Climate Change Commission has previously warned against relying too heavily on trees, because of the risk of carbon offsets driving planting on all the country’s available land – while polluters fail to tackle the root causes of emissions, such as burning fossil fuels in vehicles and factories.
The Climate Change Commission and the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment both advise offsetting emissions in permanent ways, whereas commercial forests stop sequestering carbon once they are logged. Wilding pine forests also pose a risk to native flora and fauna and can cause immense damage in extreme weather.
Consultation Question 3. What, if any, other sectors or areas do you think have significant opportunities for cost-effective emissions reduction?
The National Government has cut $3 billion in climate-related work in Budget 2024, which will undo progress across many successful projects, including key research.
It has cut programmes such as the Clean Car Discount that encouraged sustainable transport, and the Government Investment in Decarbonisation Industry that helped large emitters transition to renewable energy. GIDI is expected to deliver projects that would account for 17% of total emissions reductions planned in the first emissions budget and 35% of emissions reductions planned in the second emissions budget.
The Government also scrapped He Waka Eke Noa, the government-farming partnership set up by Labour to come up with a non-ETS pricing system for agriculture.
It is a huge missed opportunity to cut these projects. Figures in the draft plan reveal the climate impact of ditching Labour’s policies including EV subsidies (1.4 million tonnes more emissions from 2026-2030), grants to replace big industrial boilers (4.3 million tonnes more from 2026-2030), and relaxing standards on tailpipe emissions for cars imported into the country (a million tonnes, between now and 2035).
Delaying putting a price on emissions from farming from the original date of 2025 added another 1.9 million tonnes of emissions from 2026-2030. Carbon prices falling from what was expected (partly a result of the Government’s approach to allowing forestry to offset emissions) added another 0.7 tonnes.
Consultation Question 4. What Māori- and iwi-led action to reduce emissions could benefit from government support?
There are additional questions about Māori- and iwi-led action to reduce emissions and impacts of proposed ERP2 policies on Māori and iwi in chapters 1 and 12.
Cuts made in Budget ‘24 will directly reduce Māori- and iwi-led action to reduce emissions. $37 million has been cut altogether by returning uncommitted funding for developing mātauranga Māori-based approaches to accelerate new emissions mitigations.
Some communities, including Māori, are disproportionately impacted and are particularly vulnerable – for example, because of existing socio-economic inequities or where they live.
We need to ensure an equitable transition for Māori, led by Māori, to uphold their rights and interests under Te Tiriti o Waitangi. That will require building Crown–Māori relationships and capability to work together as equal partners on our climate response.
Labour had a plan for this under ‘Fit for a better world: Biological Emissions Reduction Science and Mātauranga Plan’. Developed with industry partners, this plan was to help get farmers utilise new technologies and practices to reduce biological emissions from agriculture.
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