Climate lens on laws, big policy decisions

Major government decisions will be required to go through a climate change assessment before being taken, thanks to a new rule.

A Cabinet circular instituted by the Greens means any legislation or government decision aimed at reducing emissions or likely to greatly boost emissions will have a mandatory ‘‘climate impact assessment’’ attached.

This will join other mandatory assessments of how bills effect human rights, the Treaty of Waitangi, rural communities, the disability community, and gender.

The Green Party won a commitment to some kind of climate assessment for new laws in its confidence and supply agreement with the Labour Party.

Climate Change Minister James Shaw said this change went one better because it applied to all government decisions, not just new laws.

‘‘Government makes many decisions all the time. Many, but not all, of those decisions will have an effect on climate change. With infrastructure, you make a decision on a piece of infrastructure

with a 30- or 40-year lifespan, and you’ve suddenly locked in a certain emissions path. We want to be aware of that,’’ Shaw said.

‘‘It’s crucial that when we’re making big decisions, climate change is at the forefront of our minds. I’m delighted that we’ve developed a tool for the whole

Government to easily assess whether policies we’re considering at Cabinet will increase or reduce the emissions that impact on New Zealanders’ quality of life in decades to come.’’

Shaw said that in the past, different parts of government could unknowingly contradict themselves by moving on climate change with one arm and increasing emissions with the other.

Not every decision will have a Climate Implications of Policy Assessment (CIPA), however. An early decision will be made on whether a policy has the potential to cause emissions of more than 250,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in a year, or if it is intended to reduce emissions. If not, it won’t get a full CIPA.

The assessment, to be overseen by a dedicated team at the Ministry for the Environment, will look at direct impacts but not indirect impacts. This means that a new trade deal would be unlikely to have a CIPA completed, despite the fact it could increase freight emissions.

CIPAs will be proactively released to the public, potentially giving the Green Party a powerful weapon for the next time it is in Opposition.

‘‘It’s crucial that when we’re making big decisions, climate change is at the forefront of our minds.’’

James Shaw

Climate Change Minister