New Zealand's battle against climate change must target inequality and include genuine partnership with Māori, Climate Change Minister James Shaw says.
Green Party co-leader James Shaw Photo: RNZ / Dom Thomas
Efforts to deal with biodiversity loss separately from climate change - as has been done in the past - also risks failure on both counts, he says.
Shaw made the statements in a "scene-setting" speech to business leaders, unions, Māori and environmentalists this afternoon, laying out five principles the government will follow in its emissions reduction.
He said the government had been elected on a promise of climate action.
"There is no part of Aotearoa, no business, no community, no family whose future will not be shaped in some way by these decisions - which is why it is so important we get them right," he said.
He highlighted that carbon pricing had been introduced to the Treasury's fiscal and economic analysis, and the upcoming emissions budgets being planned by the Climate Change Commission.
"These budgets will set out the total amount of emissions New Zealand must cut over the next 15 years, and therefore what the Emissions Reduction Plan must achieve," he said.
He said the principles would allow the government to change direction quickly if needed.
- A just transition - to mitigate and adapt to climate change in a way that creates good jobs and ensures no one is left behind
- Science-led response - to ensure Aotearoa New Zealand plays its part fully in global efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels, as set out in the Paris Agreement
- Enhancing the role of nature-based solutions - to maximise opportunities that both cut emissions and help to restore indigenous biodiversity
- Genuine partnership with Māori - to ensure a te Tiriti-led approach to the transition and the application of a tikanga Māori lens to the Emissions Reduction Plan
- A clear, ambitious, and affordable path - to provide business with the long-term certainty it needs to invest in low carbon solutions
"These principles should be used to assess and evaluate what we have achieved so far, in order that lessons can be learned to inform what we do in the future."
He said global momentum was building at just the right time, with US President Joe Biden joining G7 commitments to net-zero emissions by 2050 and China saying it would aim for carbon neutrality by 2060.
He said a "just transition" was necessary for the plan's success.
"We will only have succeeded if we transition to our low carbon future in a way that also helps unwind existing patterns of inequality," he said.
"If we don't - if the transition simply locks in or exacerbates those existing patterns of inequality - then we simply won't have the social license to continue the transition ... it will become, in itself, unsustainable."
He warned biodiversity loss must be tackled alongside climate change, rather than separately.
"The reality is, neither the biodiversity crisis nor the climate crisis will be successfully resolved unless both are tackled together.
"This means recognising climate change is a common thread that runs through the Emissions Reduction Plan, the Aotearoa New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy, the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity, RMA reform, the forthcoming Climate Adaptation Plan, and planned reform of our water infrastructure."
He also said the transition to carbon neutrality would uphold the promise of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
"We will not always get this right. We will make mistakes. But we can and must use the Emissions Reduction Plan as an opportunity to move the story of Aotearoa along.
"It will not be up to the Crown alone to decide exactly how we do this .... but what we can do - what we can all do - is actively support iwi Māori and involve a variety of Māori voices in the design and the development of the transition."
He also promised to signal policies early to give businesses and communities time to plan.