Politics blog: July 7-14
Government's five-point climate strategy
The Government has announced the launch of a climate strategy that Climate Change Minister Simon Watts said was built on five core pillars.
The pillars are:
- infrastructure is resilient and communities are well prepared
- credible markets support the climate transition
- clean energy is abundant and affordable
- world-leading climate innovation boosts the economy, and
- nature-based solutions address climate change.
“Our Government has committed to meeting our climate change targets - reducing net emissions is one of the nine Government targets to achieve better results from the public service," Watts said in a release on Wednesday.
The Government would soon be consulting on an Emissions Reduction Plan for the period 2026-2030. That plan would form the basis of the Government’s response to reduce New Zealand’s emissions in line with its targets.
“The Emissions Reduction Plan will set out policy proposals across the five pillars and focus on the largest drivers of emissions in New Zealand – energy, transport, agriculture, and waste sectors,” Watts said.
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts. ROBERT KITCHIN/STUFF
More details on the five pillars:
Infrastructure is resilient and communities are well prepared
- Our communities and properties are better protected from severe weather events and the cost of repair is minimised.
- People have easy access to information and guidance on potential future risks to property and community.
- Interruptions to business operations are minimised during and after severe weather events.
Credible markets support the climate transition
- The costs of reducing emissions are minimised.
- Households and businesses are encouraged to switch to clean energy to reduce the cost of emissions on production.
- New Zealand’s competitive edge and international reputation is strengthened because of our low-emissions economy.
Clean energy is abundant and affordable
- People can heat their homes more affordably, with energy coming from sun, wind, water and geothermal.
- People charge their electric vehicles easily across the country.
- Businesses have confidence in our energy security to grow their operations.
World-leading climate innovation boosts the economy
- People enjoy a better standard of living, with more productive jobs and economic growth.
- Businesses develop low-emissions goods to access key markets.
- Agriculture industry uses technology to lower emissions while lifting productivity.
Nature-based solutions address climate change
- Homes and communities are better protected against climate change through restored habitats and ecosystems.
- Businesses have more options to reduce the impact of their emissions.
- More native forests can be found in our environment.