Greens ‘would have had stronger plan’

Climate Change Minister James Shaw says that if the Green Party had held the balance of power at the last election, his Emissions Reduction Plan would have been stronger.

Shaw delivered the first Emissions Reduction Plan on Monday, a statutory guide to the Government meeting its emissions budgets.

It has come under some fire from environmentalists for not going far enough to encourage people to use public or active transport, and for the amount of money going to agriculture.

The Green Party holds the climate change portfolio but does not have full control over the policy, as larger decisions are made by Cabinet, which is made up entirely of Labour MPs. The party only has the climate portfolio by virtue of a co-operation agreement with Labour

Asked if the plan would have been different had his party held the balance of power, Shaw replied: ‘‘Yes.’’

He added: ‘‘I am delivering the Emissions Reduction Plan on behalf of the Government, and it is a Labour government, so by definition it has a Labour hue to it.

‘‘Ultimately, the policies and the strategies have been largely driven by the agencies who were directed to meet those budgets,’’ he said.

‘‘There are many initiatives within the Emissions Reduction Plan that, coincidentally, look quite a lot like Green Party policies that we have run on for many years.’’

Shaw said the Greens had not decided whether to release their own Emissions Reduction Plan ahead of the next election – something National has said it will do. He said he looked forward to National’s plan, as so far all the party had done was say it agreed with the targets while attacking every way to reach them.

Shaw’s co-leader, Marama Davidson, said the Green Party supported the plan but also wanted to go far harder on agricultural emissions, with fertiliser limits and a price on agricultural emissions.

Transport Minister Michael Wood yesterday defended the lack of initiatives subsidising e-bikes, noting that e-bikes were already outselling electric cars.

‘‘We’ve got 4 million people who drive their cars, we have to address that sector as well,’’ Wood said.

‘‘This is a balanced package – we’ve got investment going into walking and cycling as well.’’