New Zealand subsidizes the purchase of electricity to reduce emissions

New Zealand has announced the largest-scale measures to combat climate change and is working to increase sales of electric vehicles.

The small country aims to achieve pure zero carbon emissions by 2050 and expects 30 percent of its fleet to be fully electric by 2035. New Zealand also plans to reduce the total mileage of passenger cars by 20%. the next 13 years.

As part of the plan, the New Zealand government will allocate $ 569 million ($ 357 million) to a pilot program to help low-income families pay for abandoning old-fueled vehicles in favor of hybrid or fully electric alternatives. The details of this plan will be finalized in the coming months.

Also read: Sales of electric vehicles last year accounted for 6% of world car sales

Transport Minister Michael Wood said 1.2 billion new zones ($ 757 million) had been allocated to the country’s transport sector’s environmental clean-up plans. This includes the creation of a green bus fleet, the improvement of bicycle lanes and walkways, and the frequenting of trains.

“This is an important day in our transition to a low-emission future,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in a statement. “We have all seen the latest reports of rising sea levels in New Zealand and its impact. We can’t wait until it’s too late to address climate change. “

The government has also confirmed that it will increase investment in electric vehicle charging infrastructure and provide discounts on clean vehicles to encourage the purchase of low-emission vehicles.

This was stated by Chairman of the Climate Change Commission Rod Carr The Guardian The plan to subsidize the purchase of new electric cars is a good idea, but should be well designed.

“Evidence from abroad, in my opinion, was that waste disposal schemes implemented abroad were relatively expensive ways to reduce emissions,” he said. “But it depends on how they are targeted and who benefits and what the benefits are used for.”