Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

A global effort to audit countries’ responses to climate change has found New Zealand has tough laws but could do better.

The ClimateScanner project involved more than 100 national auditing bodies, including the New Zealand Office of the Auditor-General.

Weaknesses included demonstrating the link between public spending and climate change goals and the lack of formal pathways for local and central governments to work together.

The report was tabled in Parliament on Thursday.

He said there was a lack of clarity on how the government’s agriculture and energy plans would actually reduce emissions.

All countries were assessed using the same tool. Countries were assessed on whether governments had plans and policies in place to respond to climate change and whether they were implementing them, but did not examine whether the policies were appropriate or effective.

In a statement, Auditor General John Ryan said: “All governments must take action to respond to climate change and its effects.

“The international consensus is that to manage rising global temperatures, action is needed over the next decade.”

The report finds that “in many ways… our legislative framework is a strong point in our response to climate change,” Ryan said.

“However, New Zealand has not performed as well in other areas and the public sector needs to make improvements in some key areas to meet these challenges.”

Weak points in agriculture, energy and spending transparency

Weaknesses included the lack of formal mechanisms for central and local government to systematically work together on climate change policy.

The report finds that public reporting on spending on climate initiatives needs to be improved, so that spending can be tailored to the government’s climate goals.

The New Zealand assessment also found more needed to be done to advance plans to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change in some sectors.

These included agriculture, energy and disaster preparedness.

On agriculture, the Auditor General said the government’s plans to reduce emissions focused on research and new technologies (e.g. methane-reducing drugs for cows) and that “we cannot yet see a clear path between these plans and the actual reduction of emissions.

“Research and development is an important phase, but until it results in effective, commercially available tools or products to reduce emissions, there is uncertainty about whether this will actually reduce emissions. emissions in the required quantity,” the report said.

On energy, he said: “Key actions in the energy sector are at an early stage and lack detail on how they will lead to emissions reductions.”

The Auditor General’s office has recognized the Electrify New Zealand government’s promise to double down on renewable energy by easing the permitting process for new developments.

However, he said: “Electrify New Zealand is still at an early stage of development”, and while the government is counting on the policy to deliver carbon savings, “it is not entirely clear how these reductions will be made.

The report also highlights uncertainty over how the government will meet its climate target under the Paris Agreement.

The official strategy – filed with the UN – is to achieve the target using a combination of international markets (by purchasing emissions reduction measures from abroad) and domestic emissions reductions.

“However, we have not seen a clear strategy on how to achieve this,” the report said.

Brazil’s National Audit Office will collate ClimateScanner reports from around the world and present the first results at the 2024 global climate summit (COP29) in Azerbaijan, which will be held from November 11-22.