New Zealand continues to see extreme weather events damaging infrastructure, communities and disrupting supply chains. Over the last year, our country has experienced vast flooding, landslides, and heavy rain with state of emergencies declared across the country. It is clear we need to lessen the effects of climate change to protect our way of life and what we value most – our communities, industries, climate, and homes.
The good news is that the Government has a plan to do precisely that. The Government’s Climate Strategy outlines what levers we will use to reduce emissions and what this means for New Zealanders, their businesses, and the economy.
Due to New Zealand’s abundance of opportunities, we can meet our climate targets without shutting down sectors or lowering production. Our plan shows that growing the economy and meeting our climate targets are not mutually exclusive.
Having a credible Emissions Trading Scheme means businesses have the long-term certainty they need to innovate and invest in cleaner technologies, therefore reducing emissions.
We are working with the energy sector to double New Zealand’s renewable energy as we want households to heat their homes with clean energy, people able to charge their electric vehicles nationwide, and businesses to have confidence in our energy security to grow their operations. To do this, we are investing and making it easier to build renewable infrastructure. That’s the focus of this Government’s Electrify New Zealand policy, and we recently announced that 22 additional renewable energy sources are being fast-tracked. That is 3 gigawatts or almost 30 percent increase in New Zealand’s electricity generation capacity.
New Zealand, including Canterbury, has some of the best innovators creating world-leading climate technology. We are backing our innovators and removing the barriers stopping them from growing, including ending the ban on gene editing and genetic modification, so we can unlock technology that will reduce emissions while boosting the economy.
Conservation and Reducing Emissions Key
New Zealand can reap the benefits of its unique nature to address climate change. Conserving our existing natural habitats, such as the Hauraki Gulf, and restoring degraded ones enhances their
ability to remove emissions from the atmosphere. We want to explore new ways to harness nature to not only conserve and protect our unique landscape but also reduce emissions.
Reducing emissions is only one part of the Government’s climate strategy, we are also preparing our communities so they have infrastructure that can withstand the effects of climate change. New Zealand needs an enduring, long-term framework to outline how we prepare for future weather events, including floods and landslips before they happen to understand how costs are shared, how we can better share information, and the roles and responsibilities. I am working with all political parties on behalf of the Government to ensure the framework we are developing is enduring. We are also engaging with industry, banks, and insurers.
A crucial part of the Government’s climate approach is working with the sectors that drive New Zealand’s emissions profile – agriculture, transport, energy, waste – not against them to find practical solutions to reduce emissions without hindering economic growth. We can do this by unlocking New Zealand’s abundance of potential from our innovators, natural resources, and landscape.
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