95bFM New Zealand ‘dragging the chain’ with the nation’s updated climate target
11 February, 2025
Interview by Evie Richardson, adapted by Marlo Schorr-kon
The government has announced New Zealand's updated target for combating the climate crisis, in accordance with The Paris Agreement.
The target is to cut emissions by 2035 to 51% to 55% compared to 2005; only 1% higher than their previous target.
Environmental groups such as Greenpeace have called this target “unambitious,” and have highlighted how it compares to the targets of other countries.
Professor of Sustainable Energy and Climate Mitigation at Massey University, Ralph Sims, told 95bFM’s The Wire that New Zealand is “dragging the chain” when it comes to our climate goals.
“The UK’s [emission target cut is] 81% and Brazil’s is 64%.”
“Internationally we will be a bit of a laughing stock just to be able to say we can do one per cent better in that period than what we're aiming to do already.”
Sims says that many of the current government’s policies are “actually increasing climate change emissions,” such as with the increase in speed limits in certain areas of Aotearoa’s road networks.
“If you drive a car cruising along at 80 kilometres an hour you use a lot less petrol or diesel than if you are travelling at 100 kilometres an hour, and so not only do you reduce your emissions for that journey, you also save money.”
Sims says schools and industrial companies were encouraged to move away from using coal-fired heat after a decarbonisation of industry scheme was introduced by the previous government — however, this scheme is no longer in place.
Sims says there are some good things that the government is talking about, such as “more renewable energy - that's renewable electricity and renewable heat.”
Although Sims says there are some positive climate reduction plans, such as Genesis Energy planning on moving from coal to bioenergy at the Huntly power station, more needs to be done.
“We have got to discourage [the use of fossil fuels]; we have got to take away their subsidies, and therefore, the quicker we do [this] the better.”
“There seems to be an inverse policy process going on in New Zealand which is the antithesis of what we should be doing if we really want to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.”
