The new minister for economic development has been delivered a blunt message about New Zealand’s lack of progress on climate change and the potential price tag that could result in.

The ministerial briefing from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) says New Zealand is not on track to meet its Paris Agreement obligations, creating a “large fiscal risk to the government if they are required to bear the cost of purchasing international units”.

“New Zealand’s gross emissions have remained stubbornly flat over the last decade or more … even with strengthened domestic action, we will likely need to use offshore mitigation to meet this target,” the briefing says.

Last term the government passed the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Act but MBIE says “meeting our domestic and international emissions reduction obligations and adapting to the physical impacts of climate change will require significant structural and investment decisions to be made over the course of the next three years”.

“Delayed action will likely require more abrupt and costly adjustments in the future,” it concludes.

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