As a member of the Joint Project Committee, Pure Advantage is pleased to be involved in the release of Net Zero New Zealand. The report was authored by London-based Vivid Economics under contract to GLOBE-NZ, a national chapter of GLOBE-International, the worldwide association of parliamentarians working to protect and improve the environment. The analysis included a substantial programme of engagement with stakeholders from government, business and civil society in New Zealand.

Net Zero New Zealand is one of the first attempts to use scenario analysis to help illuminate New Zealand’s long-term low-emission pathways in order to meet the country’s obligations under the Paris Agreement. The report identifies four domestic emission reduction scenarios through 2050 which would position New Zealand to achieve emissions neutrality later in the century. The three elaborated scenarios are: Off Track NZ, Innovative NZ and Resourceful NZ and the fourth scenario, Net Zero 2050 is described at a conceptual level.

There is already a considerable movement internationally towards cleaner energy, something that New Zealand already enjoys, however on the issues that matter to us most we have continued to languish with no plan to identify opportunities let alone meet emission reduction targets. We applaud GLOBE-NZ for providing a platform for the cross-party leadership that this issue requires.

As outlined by the OECD Environmental Performance Review New Zealand’s economic growth model is fast approaching its environmental limits. We can no longer rely on expanding natural resource use to generate increases in GDP.

Green growth is the only growth path that allows humanity to develop while at the same time protecting our natural capital.

The Net Zero New Zealand report will go a long way to providing us with a shared base of information and analysis that will enable us to sharpen our informal dialogue, and our formal debate in Government, over the way forward on New Zealand climate policy.

Over the coming weeks, we are releasing a dynamic version of the report alongside analysis by some of our Pure Advantage contributors. We are interested in your feedback and we hope it will stimulate discussion among experts, the private sector, and our local communities to develop practical actions.

Please join us on this journey as we plot a course for a Net Zero New Zealand by 2050.

If you would like to read the report in it’s entirety, you can download below.