The Government has released its response to He Pou a Rangi - Climate Change Commission’s first annual monitoring report on emissions reductions, which assesses progress against the 2050 target, emissions budgets and the first emissions reduction plan.
Each year, starting in 2024, the Commission will provide an annual progress report on how Aotearoa New Zealand is progressing toward its emissions reduction goals. The first of these reports was published in mid-July 2024. The Government must respond to this report within three months.
The Government’s response has been framed in the context of the Government’s Climate Change Strategy and the five pillars within this that we will be delivering against. It also uses the Government’s July 2024 interim emissions projections, which is the most recently available information on progress toward meeting our emissions budgets. Due to timing of the Commission’s report, neither of these pieces of information were available to inform their assessment.
Many of the Commission’s findings are broadly aligned with Government findings. This includes that gross emissions have been tracking down since 2019 and that New Zealand is on track to meet the first emissions budget, which ends at the end of 2025.
Read more about the Government response here: Monitoring report: Emission reduction 2024
Read the Commission’s emissions monitoring report here: Monitoring report: Emissions reduction (July 2024) » Climate Change Commission (climatecommission.govt.nz)
In early August, the Commission also provided its first bienniel progress report on the implementation and effectiveness of the Government’s National Adaptation Plan. The Government must respond to this within six months.
Read the Commission’s NAP report here:Climate Change Commission (climatecommission.govt.nz)