We asked, you said, we did

We called for evidence to support our work on three pieces of advice, all related to Aotearoa New Zealand's options for contributing to the global effort under the Paris Agreement to limit global average temperature increase to 1.5°C above preindustrial levels.

We received submissions from the public related to all three topics. Many thanks to everyone who provided their input and expertise.

We have reviewed and considered every piece of evidence we received, and used it where appropriate to inform our work as we developed our advice.

We consulted on this mahi in April–May 2024 and sought public feedback on:

• Advice on the fourth emissions budget (2036–2040)
• Review of the 2050 emissions reduction target
• Review on whether emissions from international shipping and aviation should be included in the 2050 target

Between 26 April and 20 June 2023, we asked for public feedback on our 2023 Draft advice to inform the strategic direction of the Government’s emissions reduction plan.

Emissions budgets are the Government’s stepping stones for reaching Aotearoa New Zealand’s 2050 emissions targets. Each emissions budget sets out the net amount of emissions for a five-year period. For each emissions budget, the Government also needs an emissions reduction plan setting out policies and strategies for meeting the budget.

This draft report set out our proposed advice on the direction of policy for the Government’s second emissions reduction plan, for the period 2026–2030. The Commission is required to produce this advice every five years.

We invited people to provide feedback on our draft advice (whether on specific chapters or on our draft advice as a whole), including our approach to developing it, our proposed recommendations, any aspects issues not addressed in the draft advice, and any additional evidence or reference material that they thought we should consider when preparing our final advice.

We received approximately 300 submissions in total, around half of which were from businesses and business groups, a third from individuals, and the remainder from local government, iwi/Māori, universities, NGOs, and advocacy groups.

Throughout our early engagements and in consultation, we heard consistent agreement from New Zealanders that action on climate change is important. While there is not universal consensus on the path forward, submissions were broadly supportive of our draft advice on the direction of policy for the second emissions reduction plan.

Many submitters called for us to go further with our advice, expressing a desire to see more ambition and greater urgency from both the Commission and the Government.

While most of our proposed recommendations received support, some respondents felt they did not adequately convey the urgency of action required. Some wanted to see more detail in our recommendations, while others wanted recommendations to remain focused on outcomes.

Across multiple areas, we heard concerns about the potential for climate policies to create inequitable impacts. Submissions highlighted the need for an equitable transition that honours Te Tiriti o Waitangi/The Treaty of Waitangi and is fairly funded, clearly communicated, and affordable for New Zealanders.

Our approach to developing our draft advice, including our application of our policy and prioritisation frameworks, received general support through consultation. Some submitters shared different ideas on how our frameworks could be used, but we did not receive evidence or information to cause us to consider a fundamental change in how we undertook our analysis.

You can find a summary of what we heard during consultation and pre-consultation engagement, and how we responded, in Chapter 2: What we heard of our final advice and woven throughout the report.

We would again like to thank everyone who took the time to provide their input on our draft advice. Your participation and feedback play a crucial part in strengthening our mahi. Engagement is at the heart of what we do at the Commission, and it helps us to ensure the work we produce is relevant, informed and effective.

Commission staff read and considered each piece of consultation feedback we received, whether it was provided through an online submission, by email, or shared with us through a public webinar or in-person engagement.

Submissions and evidence from iwi/Māori – including evidence provided through the Maui.Tech project – were analysed according to Māori data sovereignty principles under technical guidance from Māori data scientists.

We analysed submissions and identified themes both within chapters and across the breadth of our final advice. Where new evidence was presented, we looked into it carefully and considered its potential impact on our work.

After consultation, we took another look at our recommendations, evaluating each on whether it was focused appropriately on outcomes and reflected the wider context of our advice, including the level of urgency.  Our final report includes new recommendations on:   

• Aligning institutional and regulatory outcomes   
• Investment and finance   
• The circular economy and bioeconomy   
• Research, science, innovation, and technology.  

Before confirming the final recommendations in this advice, our Board of Commissioners discussed the themes and evidence from submissions, and considered whether the updated report appropriately reflected the outcomes of our consultation.

Our finalised report was released on 12 December 2023. You can find a copy of this report, along with supporting documents and more information, on our main website:

2023 Advice on the direction of policy for the Government’s second
emissions reduction plan | Climate Change Commission

In 2021, we asked for your input into the Climate Change Commission's first package of advice to government to help Aotearoa transition to a thriving, climate-resilient and low emissions future. We prepared draft advice for public consultation, and asked for your feedback.

Read the draft advice and related documents on our website.

We received more than 15,000 submissions from around the country, including Iwi/ Māori, stakeholders, and organisations. 
 
We met kanohi kitea with Iwi/Māori where possible and engaged online where not. We ran a targeted consultation survey for Iwi/Māori to identify broad issues that Iwi/Māori would consider to be most significant.  
 
We heard from rangatahi/young people through our collaboration with The Hive, a programme that uses social media to encourage young people to have their say on public policy.  

Submissions received during consultation on our draft advice that had consent to be published are available on our website.

Our final advice, Ināia tonu nei, was delivered to the Minister of Climate Change and then tabled in Parliament in June 2021.

In delivering this advice, we believe we presented ambitious and achievable paths that Aotearoa can take to meet its climate targets and contribute to global efforts to address climate change.

It is now over to Government to decide whether to accept the advice, and to show how it will shape climate action in Aotearoa. The Government has until 31 December 2021 to set the first three emissions budgets out to 2035 and release the country’s first emissions reduction plan detailing the policies it will use to achieve the budgets.