The New Zealand government has announced that it would spend at least NZ$2.9 billion ($1.82 billion) to further reduce emissions over the next four years as part of the country’s commitment to cut emissions to net-zero by 2050.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in a statement that the new Climate Emergency Response Fund will initially receive NZ$4.5 billion from Emissions Trading Scheme revenue, with NZ$2.9 billion to be allocated in this week’s budget.
He announced that NZ$865 million of the NZ$4.5 billion had previously been allocated to international climate finance and a decarbonising fund.
According to him, the fund will be topped up with future revenue from the Emissions Trading Scheme.
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“The new Emissions Reduction Plan “delivers the greatest opportunity we’ve had in decades to address climate change but also move to a high wage, low emissions economy that provides greater economic security by creating jobs,” Ardern said in the statement.
She maintained that the government would also introduce an emissions pricing mechanism for its key agricultural sector by January 2025. ($1 = 1.5921 New Zealand dollars) (Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
“This is a landmark day in our transition to a low emissions future,” he said. “We’ve all seen the recent reports on sea-level rise and its impact right here in New Zealand. We cannot leave the issue of climate change until it’s too late to fix.”
The government of New Zealand, which declared a climate emergency in December 2020, has committed to implementing one of the most ambitious plans in the world to reduce emissions with the objective of preventing a global temperature rise of more than 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Story was adapted from Reuters.
