High-carbon 'shovel-ready' projects should be denied - Commission

The Climate Change Commission wants more safeguards to ensure emissions-intensive "shovel-ready" projects aren't fast-tracked.

The government plans to spend $3 billion on infrastructure, in addition to $12b announced last year, to stimulate the pandemic-hit economy. More than 1900 projects have been submitted for consideration, and the successful ones will be fast-tracked, allowing them to bypass the scrutiny of Resource Management Act processes.

But the commission is worried the fast-track bill, under which projects will be vetted by expert consenting panels, could obstruct the country's emissions-reduction goals. It's also concerned about proposals in areas at high risk of sea-level rise and worsening storms.

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The commission – the expert panel appointed to oversee the country's decarbonisation – wrote to Minister for the Environment David Parker​ urging changes to the fast-track bill.

The current bill states the minister "may have regard" to how a project contributes to climate change mitigation or strengthens environmental resilience – but this doesn't go far enough, the commission said.

Dr Rod Carr​, the chair of the Climate Change Commission, said the bill should force the minister to consider how infrastructure proposals align with climate change legislation. He urged the government to ensure all funded projects met climate-friendly principles, such as those the commission had previously outlined.

"Public commitments by our leadership are really important, but they're not binding on future leadership," he said. "They don't give such a strong signal to those who might promote other projects for other reasons."

Carr said the infrastructure funding could both create jobs and reduce emissions. "It is a two-for-one opportunity," Carr said.

Carr said any proposed infrastructure – even if low-carbon – should be assessed for its risk of flooding and storm damage, since the effects of climate change will increasingly take hold in the coming century.

"Whether it's made by the public sector or the private sector, whether it's made under this government or the next government, whether it's these projects or other projects, the time has come where every decision needs to bear in mind the reality that the climate is changing," Carr said. "It is changing to create a warmer, wetter, windier and in places, drier geography of New Zealand. It's reckless not to bear that in mind when you choose to build infrastructure that will last decades."

The commission said if the country lost sight of climate change, "we may end up compounding today’s crisis with a future one".

Forest & Bird had similar concerns about the fast-track bill. Canterbury-West Coast regional manager Nicky Snoyink​ agreed the legislation lacked basic environmental safeguards. "There's nothing that gives us any assurances the environment will be protected."

The advocacy group was concerned projects could abuse the fast-track process to evade environmental oversight. "We don't want things to slip through the cracks," she said.

The infrastructure investment was an opportunity to create "a low-emissions, climate-resilient economy," Snoyink said. "We need some really strong environmental bottom lines in [the bill] so we don't go backwards."

The Environment Minister's office said the minister had not yet considered the letter in detail.