New Zealand Government Unveils New Climate Strategy

By Lucy Craymer

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - The New Zealand government on Wednesday announced plans to build more resilient infrastructure and boost clean energy production, as well as support for climate mitigating technologies and increasing forests as part of a new climate strategy.

"We need to work together to reduce the impacts of climate change and prepare for its future impacts," Climate Change Minister Simon Watts said in a statement.

Watts added the strategy was built on five core pillars and underscored the government's commitment to delivering on its climate change goals.

The pillars include ensuring infrastructure is resilient and communities are well-prepared, that there are credible markets support the climate transition, that clean energy is abundant and affordable, there is world-leading climate innovation and there are nature-based solutions to address climate change.

At the end of 2023, the Climate Change Commission, a government-funded but independent expert, said New Zealand was not on track to meet its climate goals for the end of this decade and more needed to be done to encourage change, remove barriers and support investment.

Furthermore, the centre-right government that took office last November has since rolled back several environmental policies, including lifting a ban on oil and gas exploration and removing agricultural gases from the country's emissions trading scheme.

Watts said the government will soon be consulting on the emissions reduction plan for the period between 2026 and 2030, which will form the basis of its response to reduce New Zealand's emissions in line with targets.

(Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Editing by Jamie Freed)