NZAIA's submission on the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill

The purpose of the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill is to provide a framework for a stable policy environment with a clear emissions target and a guided pathway to get us there.

The amendment bill proposes four key things.
  • Set a new greenhouse gas emissions reduction target to reduce all greenhouse gases (except biogenic methane) to net zero by 2050, and to reduce emissions of biogenic methane within the range of 24–47 per cent below 2017 levels by 2050 including to 10 per cent below 2017 levels by 2030;
  • Set a series of emissions budgets to act as stepping stones towards the long-term target;
  • Require the Government to develop and implement policies for climate change adaptation and mitigation; and
  • Establish a new, independent Climate Change Commission to provide expert advice and monitoring to help keep successive governments on track to meeting long-term goals.

NZAIA identified that there is an opportunity to advocate as an organisation for the best practice use of impact assessment in this proposed law. Our main concern is that too much emphasis is placed on the role of risk assessment in the policy and plan making processes, with too little emphasis on understanding the impacts of the potential mitigation and adaptation strategies and plans.

Impact assessment approaches and methods have an equally important role to play as risk assessment, and require a stronger mandate in the Bill. As it stands the Bill contains a number of requirements that would clearly benefit from the use of impact assessment methods. We consider there should be explicit reference to the use of such methods, to ensure more consistent, effective, equitable, and sustainable policy and plan development, particularly with respect to adaptation responses.