On Wednesday the 17th of July, the government opened submissions on the second Emissions Reduction Plan.

The Emissions Reduction Plan outlines the steps the government intends to take to meet its emission budgets.

This second Emissions Reduction Plan will lay out the government’s climate plans from 2026-2030.

The plan includes initiatives such as setting a target of 10,000 electric vehicle chargers by 2030, investigating carbon capture and storage, and improving organic waste and landfill gas capture.

However, the draft has received criticism from climate experts for not being ambitious enough in it’s initiatives to reduce emissions.

Producer Josef spoke with Ralph Sims, Professor Emeritus of Sustainable Energy and Climate Mitigation at Massey University, about the draft plan and how he thinks the plan will impact Aotearoa’s emissions reduction efforts.

For more information on the plan and to have your say, you can go to consult.environment.govt.nz, submissions close on the 21st August 2024.