Ināia tonu nei: a low emissions future for Aotearoa”, the Climate Change Commission’s final report to the Government on the first three emissions budgets and direction for the emissions reduction plan for 2022 - 2025, has been publicly released today.

This call to action has been positively received by the Government, which now has until the end of the year to prepare an Emissions Reduction Plan that will set out specific policies for 2022 - 2025, together with Emissions Reduction Budgets covering the period to 2035.

The Commission’s report reflects much of the draft advice released in January 2021. But changes have been made to reflect consultation and further data, including that historic emissions in New Zealand are higher than previously thought. This means we need to go harder in our emission reductions in order to meet our 2050 emissions reduction targets. It is recognised that change needs to be sustainable and this may mean a slow start that accelerates as infrastructure and systems are put in place to support fundamental change.

Whatever the pace (fast, faster, or hasty), the direction of travel is clear from the report. Boards and other governing bodies can gain valuable insights from it to inform their strategies and risk management in maintaining and growing their enterprise in a way that is sustainable - not just environmentally but also financially, culturally and socially.

We will be following up with further insights on what the report may mean for various sectors, including the finance sector, local authorities and those affected by their decisions, primary industry, and energy/industrial sectors.

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