Govt climate analysis done on few decisions

The Government only had a full climate change impact analysis report completed on eight of its hundreds of decisions this year.

But Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says many decisions that would have increased emissions never make it to the Cabinet.

Late last year, the Government announced that all its decisions or new laws aimed at reducing emissions or likely to greatly increase emissions would have a climate implications of policy assessment (CIPA) completed by the Ministry for the Environment.

‘‘Ensuring ministers are aware of the implications a decision may have for New Zealand’s future greenhouse gas emissions will be vital to ensuring we are all playing our part in meeting the commitments we’ve made,’’ Climate Change Minister James Shaw said at the time.

The analysis requirement joins similar requirements to make sure government decisions do not breach the Bill of Rights Act or the Treaty of Waitangi, or, if they do, to explain why.

Yet the process has only applied to a small number of decisions, partially due to the pace of decision-making during the pandemic. A fast-track law to speed through 11 infrastructure projects was not subjected to the process, with the Ministry for the Environment saying it wasn’t possible as the full list of projects had not been finalised.

A spokesperson for the ministry said that until December 1, eight decisions had gone through a full CIPA process.

A further 29 proposals were subjected to qualitative analysis – a high-level evaluation of the likely effect on emissions without exact figures being presented.

A further 141 proposals were assessed as not meeting the requirement for a quantitative or qualitative analysis.

Shaw said it was a good thing that so many decisions did not have a CIPA analysis.

‘‘[The] Cabinet makes a large number of decisions every year, a lot of which are procedural and have no bearing on our greenhouse gas emissions,’’ Shaw said.

‘‘However, for those that do have an impact, there are thresholds in place so that if a decision is likely to result in a significant increase in emissions, a detailed assessment is required. I would say that generally it’s a good thing that more decisions are not subject to one of these assessments.’’

He said it was up to individual ministers to decide whether or not this analysis made them change a a decision.

‘‘That said, with the recent declaration of a climate emergency and the commitment we have made to transition the public sector to be carbon neutral by 2025, I would fully expect Cabinet ministers to be making decisions based on the urgency with which we have to reduce emissions.’’

Ardern said many decisions would never make it to Cabinet if they were clearly going to increase emissions. ‘‘My expectation is that as a Government, because climate change is a priority for us, we will be looking at it – regardless of whether there is an impact analysis – with that climate change lens.’’

She was unable to point to a decision that had been changed or modified by a CIPA report, saying the Cabinet made decisions based on a range of factors.

‘‘I would say that generally it’s a good thing that more decisions are not subject to one of these assessments.’’ James Shaw

Climate Change Minister