New Zealand to take ambitious actions to reduce carbon emissions

WELLINGTON, April 13 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand Minister for Climate Change James Shaw said here on Tuesday that "every part of government would need to take urgent action to bring down emissions" in response to the recent rise in New Zealand's greenhouse emissions shown by an annual inventory issued on the day.

"We've known about the potential impacts of global warming for decades. The time for delay is over," Shaw said.

The Ministry for the Environment's Greenhouse Gas Inventory is the official annual estimate of greenhouse gas emissions and removals in New Zealand since 1990. The report released Tuesday shows that both gross and net emissions increased by 2 percent in the 12 months from the end of 2018 till the end of 2019.

The report also includes the clean car standard; a ban on coal-fired boilers; putting a cap on the Emissions Trading Scheme (meaning emissions must fall every year); replacing coal-fired boilers in schools and hospitals; and investing billions in new rail, buses, cycle-ways and walking infrastructure.

According to New Zealand Ministry of Environment, gross emissions refers to New Zealand's total emissions. Net emissions are gross emissions minus emission removals from land use, land use change, and forestry. The Inventory tracks human-generated emissions and removals that have occurred in New Zealand since 1990. It covers carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and fluorinated gases.

The report shows that the increase in New Zealand emissions in 2018 are mainly due to emission increases in manufacturing industries and construction, public electricity and heat production.

To achieve the goal of a carbon neutral public sector by 2025 and the whole country's zero carbon emission by 2050, New Zealand government launched package plans, one of which is committing funding to a range of clean energy projects, such as replacing coal boilers, improving energy efficiency of facilities, and minimizing usage of fossil fuels in public sectors for heating.

"The fact that emissions increased in these sectors shows that the government was right last week to announce a ban on new coal-fired boilers and plans to phase-out existing coal-fired boilers by 2037, as well as transitioning away from the use of other fossil fuels," Shaw said.

Meanwhile, New Zealand's ambition includes to bring the financial sector of the country together to curb carbon emission surge. The Financial Sector (Climate-related Disclosure and Other Matters) Amendment Bill has been introduced to Parliament and will receive its first reading this week.

"It is important that every part of New Zealand's economy is helping us cut emissions and transition to a low carbon future. This legislation ensures that financial organizations disclose and ultimately take action against climate-related risks and opportunities," said David Clark, commerce and consumer affairs minister in a joint statement with James Shaw issued on Tuesday.

If the bill is approved by the parliament, around 200 organizations, including most listed issuers, large registered banks, licensed insurers and managers of investment schemes would be required to disclose the impacts of climate change on their business and explain how they plan to manage climate-related risks and opportunities.