New Zealand will accelerate the popularization of electric vehicles and study hydrogen as an alternative energy source to phase out fossil fuels and play its role in mitigating global warming. The New Zealand government announced its first emission reduction plan on Monday, saying it would initially allocate 2.9 billion New Zealand dollars ($1.8 billion) over four years to fund a series of measures.
The New Zealand government said that it would strengthen traffic decarbonization and strive to make at least 30% of light vehicles in the country electric by 2035.
The government will continue to offer discounts on clean energy vehicles to encourage the purchase of low emission vehicles, invest in electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and help low - and middle-income families buy electric vehicles after reporting waste and high fuel consumption vehicles. It will also try out an electric vehicle rental plan. The goal is to decarbonize the entire public transport fleet by 2035.
In addition, the New Zealand government will also ban the construction of new medium and low temperature coal-fired boilers and phase out existing boilers by 2037.
These initiatives will be paid by the NZ $4.5 billion climate Emergency Response Fund, which is supported by the proceeds of the New Zealand emissions trading scheme.
Last week, the New Zealand government set greenhouse gas emission reduction targets for the next 14 years as part of its goal to achieve zero net emissions by 2050.