He Pou a Rangi the Climate Change Commission initially released a draft of advice to the Government about a path to net zero carbon emissions by 2050 in January and saught public consultation on the advice. The deadline for submissions was initially set for 14 March and has been extended to 28 March.

The initial advice was ambitious but realistic, according to the organisation. 

Dr Rod Carr, He Pou a Rangi chair, says, “As a country we need transformational and lasting change to meet our targets and ensure a thriving Aotearoa for future generations. The good news is that our analysis shows there are technically achievable, economically affordable and socially acceptable paths for Aotearoa to take.”

The Commission has spent the last year working on a comprehensive and technically, economically and socially viable strategy, but believes that the Governement must move quicker to support businesses and the community to achieve their goal.

The advice includes:

• The proposed first three emissions budgets for Aotearoa.
• Recommendations on the direction of the country’s first emissions reduction plan, which provides policy guidance to Government on how the emissions budgets could be met.
• A review that finds the first Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) for Aotearoa is not compatible with the country’s responsibilities under the Paris Agreement to contribute to global efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
• A consideration of what potential reductions in biogenic methane might be needed by 2100. The result is biogenic methane will need to continue to fall in the second half of this century. This work does not review current targets.

The full draft and more information of the initial advice can be found at climatecomission.govt.nz. Anyone is welcome to make a submission on the advice at haveyoursay.climatecommission.govt.nz.

The decision to push the deadline for submissions out was made in order to allow for greater participation by the public.

“We have heard from stakeholders that they need more time to consider our data and develop informed submissions…We needed to balance time needed by stakeholders to consider our data as part of their submissions, with the work evaluating submissions and determining their impact on our draft advice.” Dr Carr says. “We do anticipate a significant number of submissions for our team to analyse. If you are on track for March 14 there is no need to delay, we would gladly receive your submission by then.”

The Commission reports that 350 submissions have been made so far by the public following the release of their draft. The current deadline for the final delivery of their advice is May 31st. 

People who have already made submissions that want to update theirs in light of this change in deadline can do so at hello@climatecommission.govt.nz.