Ministers ponder total ICE car ban by 2050
Banning fuel-burning cars and vans from our roads by 2050, and ending imports of such vehicles by 2035, is being considered by the government.
It is one of several options that is coming under scrutiny from ministers and officials as they aim to make the transport sector net carbon zero by 2050.
The government is calling for feedback on the potential policies along with suggestions of higher parking fees, congestion charges and road pricing to help eliminate carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
Michael Wood, pictured, Minister of Transport, released “Hīkina te Kohupara – Kia mauri ora ai te iwi – Transport Emissions: Pathways to Net Zero by 2050”, on May 14.
“The transport sector currently produces 47 per cent of New Zealand’s CO2 emissions and between 1990 and 2018, domestic transport emissions increased by 90 per cent,” he says.
“The pathways laid out in the report show it’s possible to meet our emission reduction targets, but big changes will be needed in the coming decades. There will be some hard choices to make, but it’s obvious we can’t continue with business as usual.
“While the pathways outlined in Hīkina te Kohupara are not government policy, we want to have a national conversation about the changes we all need to make.”
Proposals in the Ministry of Transport report address reshaping urban areas, encouraging people to choose forms of travel other than cars, and making the freight sector less-polluting.
Officials have modelled four “pathways” with different mixes of approaches. The most ambitious predicts travel using light vehicles would fall by 57 per cent in 2035, and 27 per cent of the light vehicle fleet would be electric or battery powered.
James Shaw, Minister of Climate Change, says cutting emissions from transport will be vital to address the “climate crisis”.
“But if we make smart decisions now then we can create a low carbon future for transport and put our communities on the path to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050,” he adds.
Public consultation on the report ends on June 25, with the government set to release an emissions reduction plan by the end of the year.
For more information, visit the MoT’s website. To read the full discussion paper, click here.
