Government's energy vision bold but no silver bullet

Auckland- Thursday 11 October – Greenpeace has labelled the Labour-led government's new energy strategies as "a massive stride in the right direction", but says details are lacking and the strategies are no silver bullet in the fight against climate change.

"The Energy Strategy and Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy released today contain some very commendable goals, such as 90 per cent of New Zealand's electricity from renewable energy sources by 2025 and the halving of domestic transport emissions per capita by 2040" said Greenpeace climate campaigner Susannah Bailey.

"The strategies show the Government has moved a long way towards the Greenpeace vision of using clean energy to tackle climate change. But what we're missing are details about how these goals will be achieved.

"The Government says it will write to all SOE generators asking them not to build any more base-load fossil-fuel generation. They'll also consider regulatory options to limit such facilities. We're pleased to see the Government sending a clear message to power generators that fossil fuels have no part to play in New Zealand's future. But this certainly doesn't constitute "a ban" on fossil fuel generation as some media are reporting.

"To put this announcement in context, the package of measures today - along with the Government's flagship climate change policy, the emissions trading scheme - will not on their own deliver the emissions cuts necessary for New Zealand to do its bit in tackling climate change.

"With no overall emissions reduction target, the emissions trading scheme provides no guarantee that New Zealand's emissions will actually reduce. In fact Government officials have been very open about the fact that reducing New Zealand's emissions is not the main objective of the scheme.

"The Energy Strategy and Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy offer opportunities for emissions reductions. We wait in anticipation for details on some of the policy objectives laid out in the strategies."

ENDS

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