We’re already planning for end of fossil fuel use

New jobs will be created as the country switches to cleaner energy, says Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

Recent cyclones in the Pacific, storms and floods at home and fires in Australia are a grim reminder of the catastrophic impact of global warming. So I question why anyone would be surprised that I accepted a petition – signed by 45,000 New Zealanders – that calls on the Government to take action on climate change by ending oil exploration.

As prime minister I believe it is important that I interact with as broad a range of people as possible, and to listen to their concerns. In recent weeks, for instance, I have personally greeted at my parliamentary office farmers, growers, business people, trade unions, environmental NGOs and retired New Zealanders, among others.

And I am always prepared to meet protesters, like the representatives of Greenpeace outside Parliament this week, and a Christchurch group last month who were voicing their concerns about unsettled quake insurance claims.

The Government has set ambitious goals for fighting climate change: to become carbon neutral by 2050, and have 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2035. Our focus right now is putting in place a plan to achieve this. That will involve everyone. Industry, communities, scientists, unions and the Government all need to work together. All of our futures are at stake on this issue.

One aspect of our plan is to consider the future of oil and gas exploration in New Zealand. The need to transition to a lowcarbon economy is understood and agreed on by both sides of Parliament as well as widely supported by the industry.

Currently the Government is doing work on a decision about the future of block offer – the process for allocating new permits for oil and gas exploration in New Zealand. This is only a starting point in a much bigger plan to address climate change. In each of the past two years, only one exploration permit has been awarded. So the block offer is an issue, but not the biggest issue here.

Around the world we see oil companies investing billions of dollars in clean energy, moving more to gas and renewables. We are all going to have to do things differently.

The question is what kind of transition plan we have.

We’ve seen before the enormous social damage that rapid economic transformation can cause if we don’t plan for it. I’m a child of the 1980s. I grew up at a time when this country was going through difficult economic change in a short period. People lost jobs, communities were torn apart and families were displaced.

I don’t want a repeat of that as we move to a cleaner energy future. We have a plan for weaning New Zealand off fossil fuels and it has a timeline that stretches out nearly 30 years into the future. The block offer decision will not disrupt the jobs of workers at the 27 producing petroleum fields in Taranaki. And it will not impact on the permits that have already been issued.

Our wider plan to address climate change includes an Independent Climate Commission of experts who will develop carbon budgets through to 2050. That means they’ll set the amount of carbon we can afford to put into the atmosphere each year to get us to carbon neutrality, while ensuring we have enough energy available to run our economy and country.

Essential parts of our transition plan are the Government’s Provincial Growth Fund and Green Investment Fund, which will invest billions of dollars in local infrastructure and clean energy projects in areas that currently have a lot of jobs that rely on the fossil fuel sector.

I accept we have set ambitious targets. But it is critical for New Zealand’s future that we take steps to achieve them.