The government is committing to requiring the public sector to be carbon neutral by 2025.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern made the commitment as she declared a “climate emergency” in parliament on Wednesday.
All government departments and ministries will have to measure, verify and report emissions annually.
They will have to set gross emissions reduction targets and introduce a “work plan” for how they’ll reduce emissions. They’ll have to offset what they can’t reduce in order to achieve neutrality.
The programme is being backed by the $200 million State Sector Decarbonisation Fund that will finance the replacement of public sector coal boilers, with the largest and most active the immediate focus, and support the immediate purchase of electric or hybrid vehicles to start replacing the Government’s petrol car fleet.
Certain agencies will be required to purchase electric vehicles or hybrids unless they can’t for operational reasons.
Departments and ministries will also have to implement an energy efficiency building rating standard over five years from January 2021 for all mandated property over 2000 square metres.
There will be a requirement to achieve a minimum of 4 stars when establishing new leases and a minimum of 5 starts for new builds.
Ardern said: “This policy, alongside today’s declaration of a climate emergency, serves as a message to the public sector to get our own house in order.
“It’s also a call to action for the private sector and it’s great to see so many examples of businesses taking steps to reduce their emissions.”
Economic and Regional Development Minister Stuart Nash said government agencies could exert strong influence through their spending on vehicles, office space and other supply contracts such as heating and lighting.
“The procurement practices of public service agencies have the power to influence decisions by the private and community sectors when it comes to carbon-neutral and low-emission technologies," Nash said.
“There are nearly 16,000 vehicles in the government fleet and more than 200 coal-fired boilers currently heating water and buildings in the state sector. So there is room for improvement."
Climate Change Minister James Shaw said: “According to the world’s leading scientists we have just over nine years left to cut carbon emissions in half...
“In our first term, we put in place one of the world’s most ambitious frameworks for reducing emissions, including becoming one of the only countries in the world to put in place a legally binding requirement to stay within the threshold of 1.5 degrees of global warming above pre-industrial levels."
National dismissed the declaration of a "climate emergency" as "nothing but virtue signalling”.
Here's National's climate change spokesperson Stuart Smith:
126 Comments
Another big taxpayer handout to landlords and other ticket-clipping businesses.
There has been such little incentive for developers to build efficient commercial office buildings, that the few landlords owning qualifying properties will be thrilled to jack up the rents.
Also, barring a few locally-owned businesses that produce compostable cups and takeaway containers, we don't have homegrown carbon-neutral and low-emission technologies . NZ governments drip-feed R&D grant funding, if at all, often in domains where the private sector has limited ability or interest in commercialising the knowledge outputs into useable products and services.
Taxpayers bankrolled $15 million in grants to Lanzatech's research for nine of its startup years only for the company to move all its productive operations to Chicago.
I can see the future as I have an old SUV and a new BEV. I just use the SUV strictly for what it does best. It’s already expensive. I don’t think it’s f$&ked because of this announcement. My biggest interest is in RUC exemptions. Can’t see an announced extension to that here.
Simple, Rex Pat, it goes like this: I don't own a SUV, so all SUV owners are ….. (insert insult) and I wish them all misery.
That's how the comment's section works. The same applies to Real estate agent, landlords, politicians, bankers, the reserve bank, the chinese John Key, Jacinda Ardern, … etc… etc… The comments section is filled to the brim by insecure commenters who love nothing more than to cut down others to make themselves feel a bit less miserable.
Oops, I probably haven't made any friends, lol, bring it on
What part of the "sort the b....y housing problem" sentence does not the Government understand ?
Wake up Government, we have monetary and fiscal settings that are wrecking the economy and society. Let's declare this an emergency too, and do something about it for a change.
Agreed. Keep in mind it's NOT a problem, they want rising house prices. Jacinda (after tax) has 'earned' more from her home's equity (past 12 months) than as Prime Minister.
Jacinda HAS NOT said she wants house prices to decrease. In the leaders debate at least Judith Collins said, 'house prices need to fall in some areas'. Jacinda is clearly surrounded by sycophants and lives in lar-lar-land. Accept what you can't change dude. Don't know where you live, but us Cantabs would welcome a smart dude like you down here in ChCh.
I'd call it the most pointless announcement of the least urgent emergency by the most irrelevant country in reducing the most negligible amount of emission and magically solving global warming issues if any.
Very laughable.
LoL......
By the way, the NZ's domestic house price issue should be far far far more easier to solve by NZ government than the global climate change issue.
I'm with you Xing, I like the Chinese and the West are no saints - Iran springs to mind. My wife deals with Chinese suppliers and they are some of the most polite, hard-working people she has come across.
I do wish China would be a little less thin-skinned to criticism though - most Western economies are basket cases anyway so why worry about it.
You and hook confuse hatred of the CCP with hatred of the Chinese people.
I hate the CCP but have no problem with the people. They are just like any other, there's good and bad etc.
My first degree was actually an honours degree majoring in Chinese and Japanese history. I have a lot of love for traditional Chinese culture.
It's no different to my dislike of previous American regimes, yet I love many aspects of American culture
'Timmyboy'...I agree with you on the garbage products form China ...but probably 90% of the items in your house and mine are made in China. I know the products are crap..but I buy them on price. If you put your money where your mouth is you'd be paying 2-5 times the price for it if its made in western country... if it is even available to buy.
Its all about the money...If I said otherwise I would be very hypocritical.
Waymad, what you got in your wallet?.
Lets get these guys to privatize Everything.
Bonds away.
Job will be done by lunchtime.
Be like the 80s all over again.
https://youtu.be/x1U1Ue_5kq8
Joke no joke!
It's easy for nz to become carbon neutral.
And its a complete farce, all heavy industry and things that really kick out carbon have been exported to the developing world long ago. So it's a little pointless rich developed countries achieving neutral output and patting ourselves on the back, whilst continuing to consume plastic s**** from China.
Our carbon emissions should include those used to manufacture whatever we consume (eg Plastic items from China) but exclude those items that we export (eg Dairy products). That is fair since it puts responsibility where it belongs. It would also considerably reduce NZ's figures for agriculture.
For some bizarre reason NZ always seems to have to stand out globally, be the first, most amazing, punch above its weight, alpha achieving, most intense most green, most hardline.... anyone would think that as a nation we've got some deep seated inferiority complex.
These policies won't come cheap is all I can say.
Thanks again Kachinga and labour for cashing in on your woke mandate and no doubt taxing us to all hell to pay for your misguided, self-indulgent delusions.
They won't be at work, it wont take them long to realise that if half employees work from home they won't count the home premise in the carbon calculations, but they will count the number of trips that employees no longer have to take to travel to a central work place.
Little known fact... this year in NZ during the lockdown especially, a US company has been trialing pilotless passenger planes. Our skies were already empty and covid made it even emptier. They got a few folks from CAA to head it up. 15 years time all vehicles and planes will be driverless/ pilot less. Add to that electric pilot-less planes. Anyone keen?
Brave new world unfolding quickly now. Covid has accelerated trends wot were already coming at us.
Don't know if anyone on this site saw the BBC series Years and Years. Apocalyptic but all too real as the changes were incremental so people accepted them.
That decision already (not) made;
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/police-replace-holden-vehicle-fleet-with-…
Electric and hybrid vehicles were tested, but limitations including power efficiency and the total cost of ownership meant they were not the preferred option. "While incredibly promising, electric and hybrid technology are not yet a viable option for our patrol vehicles," Coster said.
This is in line with the UN's SDGs
https://sdgs.un.org/publications/sustainable-development-outlook-2020-2…
Next stage, Carbon Neutral Housholds?
If a company figured out that it's business model was going to be obsolete within 50 years, no-one would bemoan them for futureproofing their business early, even if that meant increasing costs and foregoing existing revenue. It would make them leaders in the new market and experts on the required technology and systems. It would especially make sense if the company was small and able to be more agile than others in the market.
Still the weird belief that EVs don't have a very significant carbon footprint, that if I drive an EV (costing the taxpayer double a hybrid or straight petrol) that I am "emissions free"; virtue signalling propaganda which they have come to believe in themselves.
I see no mention of making all EV batteries 100% recyclable(not re-usable) a requirement before importing the said highly CO2 intensive batteries.
No mention of increasing grid capacity before EVs arrive en masse; till we are 100% self sufficient in renewable energy;till then coal gas and diesel will have to be burnt to supply the extra demand. for electricity, especially in drought years.
No mention of limiting NZ population; a driver of all sorts of pollution.
No mention of stopping incredibly CO2 intensive activities such as pouring of concrete to build more structure which only gets knocked down and rebuilt, to accommodate an increasing population we don't need.
Might get some smog out of cities though...but not the smug
The problem being it will do little to make apartments any more affordable.
If the government built them and sold them at no profit then we could see 2 bedroom apartments available in Auckland for 400-450k rather than circa 550-600k.
Better still, make them leasehold and sell them for 350k.
I see your point, there's a certain logic to it but it's also a bit disingenuous.
Building houses, in reality is not comparable to making food or generating electricity. The market for food and electricity is also untold times larger than the market for new affordable homes, and hence is far more competitive.
Finally, for people that don't own homes, rent is usually by far the largest living expense. Hence, comparatively speaking, more affordable housing will result in better economic wellbeing and associated benefits (health etc).
And tell me, what are the downsides? I see few. If the houses are sold at cost, the government loses little or any revenue. It would also generate a lot of employment, and potentially more sustainable employment (unlike construction employment in the private sector which can be subject to the whims of boom and busts).
It would allow first home buyers more disposable income which they can spend in the economy, or save.
"I see no mention of making all EV batteries 100% recyclable(not re-usable) a requirement before importing the said highly CO2 intensive batteries."
I don't see any current requirement for internal combustion engines either. After 25,000 miles of driving, the EV has clawed any extra CO2 it took to make it, and that's using today's tech, which is nowhere near as scaled up as ICEs are.
Cars do get largely recycled, but two wrongs don't make a right; they should both be easily and largely recyclable.
The Tesla Model 3 battery was about 7000 3.7 v batteries wrapped in plastic in series/parallel, so you can see the problem, and so it is still cheaper to dig up lithium than recycle it; although progress will be made.
For a smallish car in NZ it takes about 70,000 k to claw back the CO2 according to Govt website.
But see https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/industry/analysis-just-how-green-are… ; results vary.
Certainly not emissions free silver bullets.
Need a proper public transport system really.
"The IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute came to a similar conclusion in 2017, stating that an EV with a big 100kWh battery – manufactured on a grid that was between 50-70% fossil fuel – has emitted between 15 and 20 tonnes of CO2 before it has turned a wheel. "
1) 2017, so presumably measured on... Teslas, Leafs and the Ioniq? We've come a long way in terms of tech and efficiency.
2) Very few vehicles have 100kWh batteries due to cost, and rapid charging tech is making them unnecessary.
3) We'll see this come down as more and more production lines and platforms become electric-only, instead of supporting ICE and EVs.
A lot of these studies are massively flawed from the get go and they are quickly out of date.
https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1129478_lifetime-carbon-emissions-…
And as for 70,000km - nope:
However, once the car is delivered to the customer, and charged using renewable energy, emissions virtually disappear, Polestar noted. After 50,000 kilometers (31,000 miles), the XC40 surpasses the Polestar 2 in total emissions, the company said.
Is this the same Jacinda who ordered the public sector to get back on the car or bus or train when they could have carbon free travel by working from home?
"The Government has instructed the State Services Commission "to issue new workplace guidance to make it clear that every public sector worker should return to their usual place of work, taking into account [extant] flexible work policies"".
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/300034907/rescue-the-cbd-or-work-from-…
The 5 star GreenStar building rating is nowhere near world leading. A similar building in Europe would use a third of the energy. I work in one and you can feel the cold running off the windows in winter.
I built a Passive House to live in. So much more comfortable and energy efficient. This would be a much better standard to adopt. Building this way in Europe is now cheaper than standard building.
Yeah I thought the same thing. I thought the commentators here were getting more progressive but just seems like the same old NZ attitudes.
I’m sure the same lot were just accusing the government of not being transformational, well this seems to be heading that way to me. First climate action I’ve seen in NZ that has any substance IMO.
Transformational, but with no extra budget and no real consequences for missing the mark? Plus no explanation about why they've fumbled all of these things like the EV goals they'd already set for themselves for the last three years? 'Substance' apparently means something different than it did before the 2017 election campaign.
Haha - more aspirational virtue signalling delivered with a concerned frown. Under the last coalition with the Greens, Labour decarbonised the govt fleet by sweet FA. She sure as hell won't do it completely by 2025, unless she's gonna plant a shipload of trees on Landcorp owned farms. What a joke!
Maybe she plans on counting all the wilding pines as "non indigenous post 1990 forest"?? very cunning
Ka-chinga's expressions used to deliver all political rubbish (there's only a few):
1. Concerned face w furrowed brow
2. Toothy horse smile esp at end of interview to wash down yet more lies and stupid policy people can't afford
3. Pensive with finger on chin (variation of no 1)
4. Eyes closed hug
5. Overly effusive hand gesturing to emphasize her ridiculous waffle non-points fed by inane advisors
6. The serious head nod accompanied with lots of "look we absoludely intend this... (insert inane thing)"
That's about the sum of it.
Not a fan.
LOL... Its not that they shouldn't do anything. But the arrogance of taking on something that is an international issue and something that will do nothing other than market Jacinda, over taking on something they have all the power to remedy is mind blowing. Clear what the people want... why do we get what the pollies want.
Build affordable housing.
It's been done before in NZ and it's done in certain parts of the world.
It's just lazy thinking to at least not consider this.
It was what David Shearer's Kiwibuild plan originally entailed, before Twyford took it over and thought that the market could build housing en masse under the Kiwibuild price points...
Short term: lift benefits and crank up the printer to spend on things like dental, nurses in schools and school lunches. If we're going to run the thing hot then let's at least get something out of it for the greater good. Remember, she was not elected in 2017 on the promise of small, incremental change. She attacked National (who had actually lifted benefits, no less) for not doing enough.
PM finally headed the recent warning by the RBNZ governor, so we must all expect more QEs/LSAPs ahead from 2021 forwards, off course we all knew where it's going to.. the urgency shield wording pathway has been defined... it's post Covid re-growth in the area of addressing climate change, so expect; sustainability rail, road, infrastructure, land & housing development and more about housing supply in context of buzz words: climate change, healthy, sustainability, resiliency, self sufficient - which all can only works with more QEs in 2021-25 horizons.
I wonder if they will include embodied carbon into their calculations. EV's and Hybrids don't just magically appear carbon free. Some studies suggest that's it not until around year 5 that the EV can even offset its own carbon footprint. Most EV users don't want to talk about this though. Then there's the recycling issue, infrastructure for charging network which does not come carbon free either. The lack of options for commercial vehicles with a real ROI. I think Cindy is writing her CV for the big job at the UN. She will move on to bigger and better things leaving the rest of us paying for dumb ass ideas and virtue signaling. Meantime families are living in cars, sheds, overpriced substandard rentals and sending their kids to school on empty bellies. We are so green though!!..........been for a swim in one of our rivers recently?
In response to Britain's plans to ban the sale of ICE cars from 2030 the car manufacturers have pointed out that the CO2 emitted in the making of an average EV is 24 tonnes, while for a comparable ICE car it is 14 tonnes. This means that the EV is a significant way through its useful life before it has broken even with the ICE car. Then there is the issue of the disposal of EV componentry at the end of the vehicle's life. As things presently stand to change a nation's vehicle fleet from ICE to EV is a poor investment.
'Suffer little children' NZ has the 7th highest rate of child homicide in the OECD, but don't worry kids all the social workers will come visit your families in their electric car, which is very good for the environment. 'What good did it do for you? Why absolutely nothing!'
A lot of EV owners with secondary ICE vehicles on here. That kinda of defeats the purpose of EV ownership?
It's not just the running of the vehicle but whole of life emissions that contribute to climate change, mining, manufacturing, logistics, running and disposal. If you can not get an EV that does the job then aren't you better off with a single all purpose vehicle.
Most households are multi vehicle. Its the same as having a compact ICE runabout for commuting , and a family car for family trips etc .
Once you try a hybrid or electric , few want to go back to ICE. Battery technology will improve. Look at power tools , go on a building site now , hardly an extension lead in site. Everyone using battery tools, easier, and probably safer.
"Everyone using battery tools, easier, and probably safer.". Ah, not just those (although pertinent). It's mainly because of the insane and costly certification needed for any Corded tool, extension, etc. And a battery tool often needs recharged several times in a long working day, especially when the power output is substantial. That's done with an inverter in the back of the ute......hard to do That with an electric ute that's just bricked itself towing a 1.5 tonne excavator 150kms to the remote site...
About $ 10 to tag a electrical tool , once a year , hardly insane for safetys sake. Extension leads a major trip hazard. Biggest problem is onsite theft of tools , all other costs pale compared to that . The inverter in the back of the ute is running off a auxiliary battery ( or should be if they want to drive home at the end of the day ) , no reason why the same can't be fitted to an EV.
Not really, I own an electric car and an ICE for doing things that an electric car can't do well i.e. need more cargo space, long trips, towing heavy loads or as a people mover...
It comes down to relative use - for us the electric car is our commuter - we use it nearly every day and by far clock up the most miles in it, our ICE car is typically used for short trips or for towing and on a few occassions the battery has run down to the point that it needed to be put on the charger
Electric vehicles are not quite jack of all trades vehicles yet - and are still not quite at the price + range point where they would be accepted by everyone
Saying that, I think people underestimate just how good electric cars are, and should be considering them if they do <60-80kms per day
Unsurprised you lot are so cynical today. Meanwhile the planet burns.. oh yeah, forgot that bit. Or as the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres puts it, we're on the brink of a "climate catastrophe. And whilst we're talking about science and not .. oh I don't know.. electrical cars, the joys of your diesel driven SUVs or how much you think one govt or another has managed to address the housing crisis, the climate keeps on changing: https://www.sciencealert.com/2020-one-of-three-hottest-years-ever-recor…
.. you can call me a communist again if it makes you feel better.
Sir David Attenborough
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-55165912
JA/Lab already fell into trap of populism, not willing dare to be in transformational.. this carbon neutral idea by 2025, is a clear reading signal from RBNZ recent remark pointer about Climate change cost. Hence, this announcement. No, it's not another Kiwibuild this will work differently. This Climate change, carbon neutral idea is the silent trick to support the nationwide insurance business, govt initiated, premium already started to creep up, then come RBNZ to the printing money rescue for such initiatives, the 2021-25 plan - clever ploy, it will be sustainable homes, carbon neutral, able to be insured.. etc. the only things missing is that pricing/affordability. Please always remember NZ economy is on FIRE (Finance, Insurance & Real Estate)
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