Green Infrastructure Fund to help NZ become carbon neutral by 2050

The Green Party today announced a plan to kick-start the green economy, create jobs in the clean technology and infrastructure sectors, and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

The Green Infrastructure Fund will be a magnet to attract funding, and channel it towards the clean technology and infrastructure projects that will reduce New Zealand’s contribution to climate change.

“The Green Investment Fund will be the Kiwibank of the clean economy, kick-starting our transition to a carbon neutral economy by 2050,” Green Party Co-leader James Shaw said.

“New Zealand needs to jump on board the global response to climate change and get a piece of the economic action, instead of letting it pass us by.

“Around the world, people are building more clean energy like solar and wind than fossil fuels, but in New Zealand National has held us back from embracing clean economic opportunities.

“Under National, New Zealand will keep subsidising oil drilling instead of creating jobs in clean technologies. Only the Greens will change that.

“National has built a lot of motorways, but they’ve let other infrastructure deteriorate. The Green Infrastructure Fund will renew investment in the infrastructure we need, like clean energy, efficient buildings, sustainable agriculture, and waste reduction projects to keep New Zealand going for decades to come.

“The Green Investment Fund will help New Zealand increase our economic prosperity while at the same time reducing our contribution to climate change, as many European countries are beginning to do.

“Over time, the Fund will see billions of dollars used to build clean energy sources, sustainable agriculture projects, and the infrastructure our cities need to grow without compromising the environment.

“Being carbon neutral by 2050 is an ambitious goal, but it is the people who lack ambition who pose the biggest threat to our prosperity as a country,” Mr Shaw said.

Green_Infrastructure_Fund_policy_document.pdf

http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/1707/policy_summary.pdf

© Scoop Media