The Centre’s submission on New Zealand’s second Emission Reduction Plan covers chapter 4 of the discussion document: ‘How we fund and finance climate mitigation’ and is focused on scaling private investment in climate mitigation.
Key messages from the Centre:
Government interventions to increase investment in sustainable or decarbonisation activities should involve a combination of regulatory, financial and market-driven approaches. The Government’s role is to ensure:
- Clear, stable and coherent policy frameworks
- Scale, urgency and crowding in private capital
- Provide value for taxpayers
- Risk mitigation
- Market development and standards
- Settings that support efficient, vibrant markets
- International cooperation
These interventions work best when they are part of a comprehensive strategy that aligns government policies with the broader goals of sustainable development and climate action.
The three main barriers to enabling more private investment in climate mitigation are:
- Short-term focus
- A lack of consistency and clear leadership
- Lack of long-term industry outcomes and objectives to facilitate investment
The three main actions the Government can do to enable more private investment in climate mitigation for the next 18 months are:
- Market development
- Accelerate the national energy strategy work
- Develop a coordinated approach to facilitate climate, nature and transition investment
