Just Transition Unit reports success - suggests expansion

Sunday, 27 October 2019, 11:40 am
Article: NZ Energy and Environment Business Week

First published in Energy and Environment on October 17, 2019.

The Just Transitions Unit work has been successful so far in Taranaki, but will need more funding to continue and expand, especially if it extends it work into the agriculture area where the Government is planning for the impact of major change, says a Cabinet paper.

The paper presented by Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods outlines the past work and future plans of the Government’s Just Transitions Unit (JTU). The unit was set up to deal with the impact on jobs and communities due to climate policy changes and particularly the ban on new oil and gas exploration outside offshore Taranaki

Woods said since the JTU was established “it has delivered a successful national Just Transition Summit and made significant progress with the Taranaki region in planning for their transition to a low emissions future. The partnership has led to a shift in focus from being largely concerned around uncertainty and what may be lost; to more of a focus on the opportunities emerging and on building a solid relationship and momentum for positive change.”

Money from Budget 2019 had seen funding dedicated to the just transitions work and this would be focussed on the Taranaki region

“If a compelling case can be made for extending the JTU partnership to another region then further resourcing is likely to be required… Looking ahead we may wish to consider whether we should extend such an approach to assist the primary sector and communities where the primary sector is dominant to transition to a low emissions future.”

It had become “more evident that the primary sector is facing significant challenges across many regions. The cumulative impacts of the Government’s implementation of policies to reduce emissions and transition to productive and sustainable land use are expected to be significant for the primary sector and for rural communities in particular.”

Wood said the lesson from Taranaki was it takes significant levels of time and effort to build relationships, identify common interests and purpose, and agree on how to work together – before the substantive work can even begin.

There had also been an ongoing need to manage stakeholder expectations around how much resource and funding the Government will bring to a partnership.

“Both the JTU and other government units working in Taranaki at times have needed to manage a heightened sense of expectation that can arise when the Government announces it will be focusing on a particular place or issue.”

The paper said the tangible results of the partnership to date can be seen in the Taranaki 2050 Roadmap. Between July and December 2020, the Taranaki regional leadership group intends to oversee a number of working groups who will form action plans stemming from the Roadmap transition pathways.

“This next phase, and the ongoing success of the partnership, will require Government to respond to and enable the region’s transition plans. The commitment to Taranaki needs to take a long term view and sufficient resourcing and focus for the foreseeable future. The Taranaki region is clear that momentum, goodwill and local leadership must be maintained for credibility and to provide certainty to the region as it prepares to move to a low emissions future.”

Woods said this next phase is where “trade-offs have to be considered and difficult conversations about costs and responsibilities have to be held. To date we have not reached these difficulties as the work has been focussed on identifying shared goals and purpose. As those areas of common ground are established we will reach the point where these decisions need to be made and trade-offs will be realised.

“Areas where I expect trade-offs to be considered include the degree of Government support for the region’s transition strategy, especially for issues where Government policy has yet to be set, such as carbon capture and storage projects, or the role of blue hydrogen (which uses natural gas) in the transition.”

The Government’s climate change policy “could have significant effects on key sectors in Taranaki other than the oil and gas sector, such as the agricultural sector and manufacturing industries that provide meaningful and well-paid jobs in the region.”

First published in Energy and Environment on October 17, 2019.

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