Executive Summary
2. Sustainable energy is one of four programmes of action under the sustainable development programme of action. Responding to the pressing challenges for energy of climate change and the coming of peak oil, it aims to place New Zealand's energy system on a more sustainable basis, i.e. a system that is reliable and resilient, environmentally responsible, and in which prices are fair and efficient.
3. The government is addressing sustainable energy through a wide range of policies, programmes and institutional arrangements that impact on energy use. There is no single path to sustainability: there are too many uncertainties to make this possible. The government's approach is one of setting direction while maintaining flexibility.
4. The sustainable energy programme is not intended to replace ongoing work programmes in individual policy areas but rather provide a coherent picture of actions and an assessment of where current government actions are sufficient and where more might need to be done.
5. In the recent round of engagement with stakeholders following the publication of Sustainable Energy late last year there were calls for the government to take more vigorous steps in some areas and articulate a more detailed strategy for effecting change.
6. Work is already underway to strengthen existing policy settings in key areas, e.g. more active steps to promote energy efficiency and renewables are being addressed in the context of a review of the National Energy Efficiency Conservation Strategy (NEECS), and issues relating to sustainable transport and oil are being addressed as part of an emerging work programme led by the Ministry of Transport.
7. Significant improvements have been and are continuing to be made in other important areas as part of ongoing work programmes, e.g. effective and well-regulated electricity and gas markets and the Resource Management Act. Officials are reviewing climate change policies following the recent re-assessment of the projected balance of units during the first commitment period.
8. This report notes the importance of continuing to place this work in the wider context of what the government is trying to achieve in sustainable energy so that connections can be made across areas. This should also help ensure that momentum is not lost in making the improvements discussed above. These are both important and pressing.
9. The report also proposes further investigation in some cross-cutting areas, namely:
- the contribution of research, science and technology to sustainable energy;
- public awareness of sustainable energy issues;
- the availability and quality of information to inform sustainable energy policies;
- "transition management" approaches to sustainable energy;
- the potential for government procurement decisions to contribute to sustainable energy.
10. It also proposes that the question of whether a follow-up document to Sustainable Energy should be prepared be assessed early in 2006 in the light of progress in the work described above.
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