Resistance to commission’s climate plan
WELLINGTON: New Zealand is heading for a major upheaval under a landmark plan to combat the climate crisis, but the sectors in line for the most serious change are already showing signs of resistance.
The Climate Change Commission had released a draft blueprint with recommendations on how to slash emissions to ensure the country is carbon neutral by 2050.
Among its proposals: a ban on conventional car imports, slashing livestock numbers by about 15%, the closure of Tiwai Point, and a ban on gas hobs in new houses.
The Government called it this generation’s nuclearfree moment — radical reform required in the face of rising global temperatures.
Under the plan mapped out by commission, the coal mining and oil and gas industries would be hit hard — up to 1100 jobs gone by 2035.
‘‘That depends on whether or not you think that the future, that the commission has painted, will come to pass and I’m not convinced,’’ John Carnegie, head of oil and gas lobby group Pepanz, said.
By and large, he found the report thoughtful and nuanced.
But its recommendation to stop gas connections being installed in new homes — he called a distraction — was one which would cost consumers a lot for little upside.
New Zealand’s roads were set for a shakeup, too, under the commission’s vision, with a proposed ban on any new petrol cars coming into the country at some point between 2030 and 2035.
By that end date, it wanted 40% of the light vehicle fleet to be electric.
Motor Industry Association chief executive David Crawford called it a monumental shift.
‘‘It’s a very tough task, but it does start to focus the mind for
New Zealanders about what we need to do if we are going to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.’’
For Mr Crawford, the timeline for the import ban might be too ambitious, outpacing other countries and car manufacturers, too.
He said consumers would need incentives of some sort to shift New Zealanders to electric vehicles — like the feebate scheme spiked by New Zealand First last term.
‘‘If you want to move faster than the market, you need some government assistance to do that,’’ he said.
The agriculture sector, too, was in line for some adjustment.
Federated Farmers likes the commission’s shift away from mass planting of pine, and the way methane is treated separately from carbon dioxide.
Even so, president Andrew Hoggard said the methane targets proposed looked too high.
He also questioned the plan to cut stock numbers while maintaining production.
‘‘It’s not an easy shift. Sometimes we don’t live in a perfect world and sometimes best intentions [are] not that easy to achieve.’’
The final report will go to the Government before the end of May.
Climate Change minister James Shaw said the biggest challenge the Government faced over the report was getting the balance right between different industry sectors.
‘‘Every sector is going to be saying ‘it’s too tough, you need to go harder on another sector’ but then how do you balance it out?
Mr Shaw said New Zealand would not meet its targets under the Paris Agreement if it did not enact the commission’s plan. — RNZ