The Government’s climate strategy
The Government has reiterated its commitment to meeting its climate change targets to reduce the impacts of climate change and prepare for its future impacts.
- Climate change strategy [PDF, 1.3MB]
As part of its response, the Government has developed a climate change strategy that sets out the approach to how it will deliver on New Zealand’s climate goals.
The strategy focuses on five pillars, making sure:
- infrastructure is resilient and communities are well prepared
- credible markets support the climate transition
- clean energy is abundant and affordable
- world-leading climate innovation boosts the economy
- nature-based solutions address climate change
Examples of the Government’s plans under each pillar include:
- Delivering a fair and enduring adaptation system that helps New Zealand be ready for climate change and provides clarity on costs.
- Pricing emissions fairly and effectively to incentivise emissions reductions.
- Doubling renewable energy by 2050 and installing 10,000 public charging points for electric vehicles.
- Providing tools and removing barriers to help businesses to innovate and prepare for the future.
- Restoring biodiversity, while investigating new ways of harnessing nature to remove emissions from the atmosphere.
Enablers to support delivery:
- private investment and partnerships
- access to the best available data and evidence
- international engagement and knowledge sharing
- competitive markets
The Government’s response is focused on transitioning New Zealand to a low emissions economy in a cost-effective way using effective and efficient policies, while taking advantage of our unique landscape to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
In April 2024, the Government made reducing net emissions one of its nine Government targets to achieving better results from the public service and keep us on track to reach net zero for long-lived gases by 2050.
The public service target is focused on reducing net greenhouse gas emissions to no more than 290 Mt CO2-e from 2022 to 2025 and 305 Mt CO2-e from 2026 to 2030. This is aligned with our emissions budgets.
Read more about the Government’s targets, including the 2050 target here.
While the climate strategy outlines our overall approach to the climate response, the second emissions reduction plan is our key tool to bring the strategy to life.
The second emissions reduction plan will set out policy proposals across the five pillars, and will focus on the largest sources of emissions in New Zealand – energy, transport, agriculture, forestry and waste sectors.
The plan will also set out how emissions pricing, and the Emissions Trading Scheme in particular, will play a central role in our climate change response.
The Government expects to consult on the second emissions reduction plan in the coming weeks.