Labour Party - Speeches

New Zealand's role in de-carbonising the world

05.06.2008

Address at the panel discussion - How do we de-carbonise the World?

World Environment Day panel discussion - How Do We De-Carbonise The World? With Dr Rajendra Pachauri and Achim Steiner. Victoria University event. Rutherford House, Wellington

Good afternoon. I'd like to first offer my thanks to the Institute of Policy Studies for inviting me to speak to you today.

I would also like to acknowledge our three esteemed guests: Dr Rajendra Pachauri, Chairman of the IPCC, and Achim Steiner, Executive Director General of the United Nations Environment Programme, and Anote Tong, President of Kiribati.

Today, of course, is World Environment Day, and I am very pleased that this year New Zealand was able to play the role of host.

People often ask me why New Zealand is so committed to taking action on climate change. After all, we are a small nation, and our total emissions are low compared to those of China or India. What difference can we make?

In response, I say first of all that our total emissions are less than 0.2% of the world's emissions only because our total population is less than 0.2% of the world's population. On a per capita basis, our emissions are high. If a country had to have the bulk of the world's emissions before taking action, no one would. Larger countries like France, Germany and the UK account for small proportions of the total. Even the 19.15% the USA is responsible for is less than a fifth of total emissions. This all goes to show no country can overcome global warming alone and we all need to do our bit.

Second, I say that New Zealand has an important role to play in showing how a country can succeed in tackling climate change.

It's clear the world faces some serious environmental challenges. We can easily become depressed when we hear that fisheries are collapsing, ocean acidification and rising temperatures are bleaching coral reefs, rainforests are being logged unsustainably, desertification is encroaching on arable lands in Australia, Africa and Asia. Massive inland seas are drying or dying from pollution. Fresh water aquifers are dropping and hundreds of species are on the road to extinction.

With the world's population burgeoning, we have food shortages and high food prices impacting especially the already impoverished nations.

Add to this the pressure on resources reflected in oil prices and it's clear that the environmental constraints on our world are of serious concern.

If we as a planet do not manage to achieve the step-change that is needed to balance our needs and wants with the resources the world can provide, then our planet and all who live on it will be in serious trouble.

If we fail to tackle climate change, misery for millions of some of the world's poorest people will result.

These issues are all inextricably linked and solving them is not easy. It requires actions within each country as well as co-operation between them. Unilateralism cannot get the world to where it needs to get. The United Nations' role is pivotal.

All is not lost. There is a sense of urgency now among governments, among populations - especially the young, and among businesses that we must become more sustainable.

A worldwide concern about tackling climate change is driving the development of new clean energy systems, of more efficient and cleaner methods of food and industrial production, and of improved resource recovery and recycling.

New Zealand is moving along this path, and I believe it is incumbent on us to move quickly.

After all, if a country as wealthy as New Zealand, with an abundance of renewable energy and environmental resources, a small but highly educated population, cannot overcome these problems locally, then who can?

The reality is that if we cannot, then there is little hope the world will overcome them. It is that simple. I believe that is why the UN looks to us today. To show that we can overcome these challenges here, and so be a beacon of hope rather than a source of despair.

We are blessed with abundant sources of renewable energy. We are a wealthy country, with a functioning democracy and a highly educated population. We have people that care about their environment. If New Zealand cannot tackle climate change, who can?

A cornerstone of our response on climate change will be the emissions trading scheme. This creates an incentive across the economy to reduce emissions. By internalising the cost of increases in emissions to the emitter, it rewards decreases in emissions and discourages increases.

The emissions trading scheme we are advancing covers all sectors of the economy, and all gases covered by the Kyoto Protocol. By covering all six greenhouse gases and all sectors of the economy it encourages the least-cost emission reduction to be found wherever they occur in the economy. It avoids creating distortions between different sectors in the economy. It is fair and effective.

It makes sense to include agriculture. Methane and nitrous oxide emissions from our agricultural sector account for almost half of our total emissions. This is an unusually high proportion compared with other developed countries, which tend to have a greater proportion of their emissions from electricity generation.

New Zealand will be the first country in the world to include agricultural emissions in an emissions trading scheme. The sector is due to enter in 2013. Its emissions for electricity, other stationary energy, and transport will be included in 2010 and 2011, but are already influencing investment behaviour.

Although there are obvious challenges in finding solutions to agricultural emissions, there are also opportunities. New Zealand is already taking a lead in research into mitigating methane and nitrous oxide. We have a long history of significant research and development in pastoral farming, and world leading scientific expertise. This is part of New Zealand's contribution to the world effort to reduce emissions.

The government is continuing to work with industry to invest in research on agricultural emissions through the Pastoral Greenhouse Gas Research Consortium.

We have also boosted research in the sector with the $750m fast-forward fund, which will be matched by industry investment, and will help to address sustainability issues.

We have established a Livestock Emissions and Abatement Research Network (LEARN) initiative in collaboration with international partners. Its purpose is to bring together from across the world; research, policy and industry people who are working on the challenge of mitigating Methane and Nitrous Oxide emissions from animal agriculture. It will facilitate the development and use of cost effective and practical greenhouse gas mitigation solutions.

The agricultural sector will be participating in further activities, such as piloting of farm-level monitoring and reporting. Technology transfer projects will also be rolled out between now and 2013.

We are confident we can continue to improve our vibrant pastoral sector and be world leaders in sustainable land management.

Forestry is also included in the proposed New Zealand ETS, which is another world first. This is targeted to encourage new planting and discourage deforestation. This is already working as shown by the very substantial decrease in deforestation this year. A number of complementary initiatives support the forestry sector, including the Afforestation Grants Scheme, the Permanent Forest Sink Initiative and the East Coast Forestry Project.

Transport emissions make up approximately 19 per cent of our greenhouse gas emissions and until recently have climbed steeply - a trend which has been fairly consistent since the motorcar was invented. I am pleased to report that this trend has now been halted. A twelve-fold increase in funding for public transport, increased support for rail, and various efficiency initiatives together with the effect of increased petrol prices have had this effect. Our transport emissions are now projected to remain stable, not withstanding both population and economic growth. The government is targeting reductions in transport emissions by legislating for mandatory use of sustainable bio-fuels and vehicle fuel-efficiency labelling, and introducing a range of other initiatives under the updated Transport Strategy, including the increased emphasis on rail. We have also adopted the objective of New Zealand to be one of the first countries to widely deploy plug-in hybrid and purely electric vehicles, using our clean green electricity.

In the electricity sector, New Zealand is already ahead of the game, with approximately 66 per cent of our electricity coming from renewable sources. But we can do even better. The government has set a target for 90 per cent of electricity to be generated from renewable sources by 2025. To achieve this, we have to add 175MW of renewable electricity generation each year. 300 MW is already under construction with another 100 MW to start this year.

Of course the lowest cost emissions savings often arise from improvements in energy efficiency. There is not time to detail the many initiatives we have to improve residential, commercial and transport efficiency. Suffice it to say that we are implementing the foundation principle established by the New Zealand Energy Strategy that as a country we should invest in energy efficiency where this is cheaper than the cost of more energy or generation capacity. The costs taken into account include the cost of environmental externalities.

In terms of emissions from industrial processes, New Zealand will not be the main developer of carbon-capture and storage technology. But we will adopt it, and have work underway to both identify suitable storage structures and to develop the required regulatory regime.

We aim to have completely carbon neutral electricity by 2025, and to become carbon neutral in the whole of the transport and energy sectors by 2040. This is achievable with only a moderate level of offsets, which will decline further over time.

I am proud of the steps that New Zealand has taken so far and of our commitment to addressing climate change. We have been resolute in pursuing this. Measures we have taken have dramatically cut our projected CP1 deficit - which is now 14.7 million tonnes in total over the five years assuming the ETS proceeds in its current form. This deficit is less than 5 percent compared with the 25 percent overrun previously forecast. It represents substantial progress. We may get even closer. More important still is the trend, which is that we are getting our emissions under control and showing that it can be done affordably with many ancillary benefits ranging from water quality to health improvements.

But we cannot do it alone. New Zealand believes in a multilateral approach to many world issues, and especially climate change.

De-carbonising the world is a task that will only be achieved if individuals, businesses and governments worldwide work together to reduce emissions.

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New Zealand's role in de-carbonising the world

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