Potential long-term pathways to a low carbon economy for NZ
This paper is part of preparations to provide advice on New Zealand's Nationally Determined Contribution to be tabled under the new global agreement on climate change in 2015.
The primary questions this paper informs are:
- How long could it take to reduce emissions from the New Zealand economy to a level consistent with a two degrees celsius global climate goal?
- Given possible scenarios for timing of global action on emissions, how soon should New Zealand start acting on its emissions?
- Which actions would be the highest priority to start now to maximise the chance of achieving a low-emissions economy by year x?
- What international contribution from New Zealand would be consistent with a plausible, long term, low-emissions pathway?
This paper is not intended to: - Explore a full range of metrics to assess New Zealand's fair share of a short or long-term global emissions reduction goal
- Quantify the cost of domestic emissions reductions.
- Make the case for or against government intervention to achieve a particular level of domestic emissions abatement