Reducing Greenhouse Emissions - Climate Change Commission

The independent Climate Change Commission has released its draft package of advice to Government on the steps Aotearoa must take to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address climate change.

Commission Chair Dr Rod Carr says the advice is ambitious but realistic and makes a clear case to Government for taking immediate and decisive action on climate change.

The Commission's advice includes:

• The proposed first three emissions budgets for Aotearoa.
• Recommendations on the direction of the country’s first emissions reduction plan, which provides policy guidance to Government on how the emissions budgets could be met.
• A review that finds the first Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) for Aotearoa is not compatible with the country’s responsibilities under the Paris Agreement to contribute to global efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
• A consideration of what potential reductions in biogenic methane might be needed by 2100. The result is biogenic methane will need to continue to fall in the second half of this century. This work does not review current targets.

Read the draft advice of He Pou a Rangi – the Climate Change Commission. It includes advice on the first three emissions budgets and on policy direction for the Government’s first emissions reduction plan.Public consultation on the draft advice begins Monday, February 1 and runs until Sunday, March 14.