Labour delivers cleaner, greener transport
Zero emission buses, cleaner cars and environmentally-friendly biofuels will soon be hitting New Zealand’s roads, as the Government delivers on its election promise to make our transport network more sustainable.
Jacinda Ardern was in Auckland today to outline the next steps in our work to tackle climate change, announcing a raft of new policies focused on a cleaner, greener transport network.
These changes include:
- Introducing new standards for importing cars. This will mean we import fewer high-emission cars, utes and vans into New Zealand, helping to cut carbon emissions on our roads while also reducing fuel costs for drivers. New Zealand is currently one of the only countries in the OECD without emissions standards for vehicle imports.
- Moving to a carbon neutral public transport fleet. This includes requiring all new buses to be zero emission from 2025, and working to decarbonise the entire public transport bus fleet by 2035. The Government will contribute $50 million to support regional councils as we transition to greener public transport.
- Making sure environmentally-friendly biofuels play a role in our transport network. At the moment, New Zealand uses very little biofuel for transport. We plan to introduce a mandate requiring that sustainable biofuels are included in our fuel supply, which will help us lower our carbon emissions across the board.
These changes will not only help us meet New Zealand’s climate targets, but will also create new jobs as we continue our COVID recovery.
Over the past three years, we’ve made tackling climate change a priority. Today’s announcement builds on the work we’ve already done, including passing the landmark Zero Carbon Act, declaring a climate emergency, banning new offshore oil and gas exploration, establishing the Climate Change Commission, investing in green jobs to support our COVID recovery, and requiring all Government agencies to be carbon neutral by 2025.
Climate change is one of the biggest challenges of our time, and we cannot afford to wait until it’s too late to do our bit. We know there’s more to do, but the steps announced today will ensure we’re moving in the right direction to protect our planet for future generations.
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