NZAA submission Zero Carbon Bill Discussion Document
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Zero Carbon Bill
Discussion Document
NZAA submission
The New Zealand Automobile Association Incorporated 19 July 2018
342-352 Lambton Quay
PO Box 1
Wellington 6140
NEW ZEALANDSUBMISSION TO: Ministry for the Environment
REGARDING: Zero Carbon Bill Submission
DATE: 19 July 2018
ATTENTION: Zero Carbon Bill team
ADDRESS: Ministry for the Environment
ZCB.Submissions@mfe.govt.nz
SUBMISSION AUTHORISED BY Simon Douglas
National Manager, Motoring Affairs
New Zealand Automobile Association Incorporated
P.O Box 1
Wellington
SUBMISSION AUTHOR Vanessa Wills
AUTHOR E-MAILTHE NEW ZEALAND
AUTOMOBILE
19 July 2018 ASSOCIATION
INCORPORATED
342-352 Lambton Quay
Wellington
Zero Carbon Bill Team New Zealand
Ministry for the Environment PO Box 1
Wellington
PO Box 10362
New Zealand
WELLINGTON 6143
ZCB.Submissions@mfe.govt.nz T. +64 4 931 9999
F. +64 4 931 9964
SUBMISSION FROM THE NZ AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION ON THE ZERO CARBON BILL
1. Introduction
The New Zealand Automobile Association (NZAA) is pleased to make the following
submission in response to the Zero Carbon Bill Discussion Document, and we appreciate
the opportunity to do so.
In line with our position as a Membership organisation representing the interests of 1.6
million motorists, we have focused our submission on the areas where we can draw on our
own research and analysis, rather than answering the specific questions in the Discussion
Document. We believe that this approach adds more value to the discussion.
2. Content of this Submission
This submission is the property of the NZAA. This submission may be freely copied, cited
and distributed, but not altered. The NZAA asserts its claim to authorship of this submission.
23. Background on the New Zealand Automobile Association
The NZAA is an incorporated society with 1.6 million Members. Originally founded in 1903
as an automobile users advocacy group today it represents the interests of road users who
collectively pay over $3 billion in taxes each year through fuel excise, road user charges,
registration fees, ACC levies, and GST. Those Members, through their contribution of fuel
excise duty, road user charges, and registration fees to the National Land Transport Fund
(NLTF), are the primary funders of New Zealand’s land transport system.
The NZAA’s advocacy and policy work is about enhancing mobility of our Members who are
primarily drivers, but also cyclists, pedestrians and public transport users, and identify as
environmentally conscious. The NZAA also looks to keep the cost of motoring fair and
reasonable, and most importantly, to enhance the safety of all road users.
The Association’s transport expertise is supported by regular NZAA surveys of its Members
that provide significant insights into the patterns, practices and needs of transport users
across New Zealand. These insights support the development of our policy positions on
issues including those covered by the Zero Carbon Bill. In this submission, we use the
results of Member surveys that we carried out specifically into this issue.
34. Overview:
The NZAA recognises the initial steps being taken by this Government as part of its vision to
achieve a net zero carbon future, and we commend the Ministry for the Environment (MfE)
for compiling this Zero Carbon Bill Discussion Document (Discussion Document). To
engage New Zealanders in a meaningful discussion about a net carbon zero New Zealand, a
clear and compelling vision is necessary. As we will note, however, beyond the vision, it is
necessary for New Zealanders to change our culture, and take real steps, to achieve this
change.
We are conscious that the goal of the Zero Carbon Bill is to provide certainty with a stable
policy environment and we support this. We anticipate that the future Zero Carbon Bill will be
a starting point (rather than providing a detailed framework) for others to implement in their
own net zero carbon plans in a collaborative manner.
Guiding much of this submission is the climate change survey we conducted in November
2017. We surveyed 1,200 Members for their views of the Paris Agreement and New
Zealand’s obligations under it. Our goal in carrying out the survey was to determine AA
Members’ knowledge and attitudes towards international climate change measures like the
Paris Agreement, including how AA Members are willing or able to change their transport
practices to meet our Paris climate change targets and how AA Members will respond to
increased costs of carbon if the emissions trading scheme (ETS) settings were changed.
The key conclusions we have developed from analysing the survey results are as follows:
Our Members are taking limited actions to change how they travel, with 94% being
regular car drivers;1
Culture and behaviour change is likely to be difficult, and a ‘slow burn’ even when
Members consider themselves to be environmentally conscious;
There is a need for a proactive, strategic approach to how reducing emissions is
discussed with the public. This needs to be a long-term campaign, with
acknowledgement that this will take time.
We are happy to continue to provide insight on our Members’ views over time, to help inform
the debate and monitor progress
5. Understanding transport behaviour is essential
We recognise the need to reduce New Zealand’s emissions profile – but how we do it
remains the question. Ultimately the ‘how’ relies on the public and a shift in transport
behaviour. Our surveys suggest the Ministry needs to understand the reasons why people
travel the way they do in order to be successful in achieving a transition to a net zero carbon
future.
1
Regular meaning they have driven a car within the past seven days.
4By way of example, the Discussion Document cites that one benefit of the transport changes
that will lead to a net zero carbon economy, is reduced time wasted in traffic congestion and
improved health from switches to public and active transport. As a statement of a desirable
future, we agree with this. However, our surveys show that AA Members use and will
continue to use a private motor vehicle for the majority of their trips for work, recreation and
social engagements because of the speed, convenience, and reliability of their own car2.
Further, for many of these trips public transport isn’t available or suitable for their trip
purpose, and active modes are not practical. We are seeing little being done to understand
the needs and the travel patterns of those individuals.
To understand public attitudes, we regularly survey our Members on their attitudes to
transport and the environment. In What our Members Think3 we established that 88% of our
Members self-nominated as environmentally conscious, yet only 31% of them have made
changes to how they travel to reduce the impact on the environment. This suggests that
Members may agree in principle with the need to change behavior, but when it comes to
making the actual change, they are not taking action.
In fact, in some instances, it would appear that the public is actually moving in the opposite
direction. In the current list of New Zealand’s top selling cars, the top five are large SUVs.4
This reflects the current market – New Zealanders like and buy SUVs. When looking at
understanding travel behaviour, this needs to be something that is assessed: what is
motivating current purchasing behaviour, and how does that translate into action and
behaviour change for a net zero carbon future?
Our survey work has also shown that 95% of our Members would find it problematic if they
couldn’t use a vehicle at all. When determining how they might change their transport
behaviour, 65-70% say they would find it hard or impossible to replace their car trip with
buses and trains, almost 80% say the same about switching to cycling, and 61% say that
walking wouldn’t substitute for their car. We’re happy to provide further information on
transport behaviour from our surveys to the Ministry.
The point here is that simply determining a 2050 target and that a net zero carbon future
must exist will not immediately change behaviour, and it will not eliminate the need for a
constructive and well-organised discussion with the public on the issues. MfE has said that a
transition must be gradual and carefully phased it, and we agree with that based on the
above. The way in which New Zealanders travel and their appetite for behavioural change
needs to be explicitly addressed, alongside other affected industries and sectors.
2
See the AA’s, What our Members Think, 2016. Our Members choose a car because they can carry more and they find them
quicker, more convenient and more reliable than other forms of transport. Available at
https://www.aa.co.nz/assets/about/newsroom/publications/What-AA-Members-
Think.pdf?m=1493863896%22%20class=%22type:%7Bpdf%7D%20size:%7B5.5%20MB%7D%20fil
3
See the NZAA’s What our Members Think, as above.
4
See June 2018 listings by model: https://www.mia.org.nz/Sales-Data/Vehicle-Sales#msm
56. Culture and behaviour change is difficult
Our November 2017 survey results
showed that there was little faith that
New Zealand could meet its climate
change targets, and even less faith
that the rest of the world would (see
infographic.5) This suggests that while
culture and behavioural change is
difficult, New Zealanders might, in
principle, be more willing to adopt
measures to mitigate the effects of
climate change.
However, when it comes to specific measures to change behaviours, the scale of the
challenge becomes clear – even when looking at the self-identified environmentalists
surveyed. When we posed a scenario of increasing petrol prices as an impetus to change
transport behaviour away from car use, we determined that a 25% increase in petrol would
cause 40% of self-identified environmentalists to “probably” change mode to using public
transport instead of their personal vehicle. This suggests that even when faced with
significantly higher fuel prices, 60% of self-identified environmentalists are still in a position
where they want or need to drive. Even when faced with rising fuel prices, the car still holds
an important role in the mobility of New Zealanders
We also assessed how much our Members would be willing to pay to offset the impact on
the environment if changing their mode of transport is not an option available (for whatever
reason). Members stated they were willing to pay from $2 to $39 per week in addition to their
average weekly petrol spend of approximately $50. This wide variation of figures that AA
Members are willing to pay suggests that some have not been brought along the carbon-
neutral journey, and don’t recognise the necessary shift in behaviour (or increased cost) that
is required to meet this target.
As a current example of the difficulties in bringing about behaviour change, it is worth looking
at the uptake of electric vehicles. While the carbon benefits of EVs are clear, and uptake is
increasing, there are currently only 8,700 vehicles in a light vehicle fleet of over three million
vehicles. Higher uptake is difficult even within the Government’s own fleet - Energy Minister
Megan Woods commented that “even with cheaper running costs, the investment is
presently hard to justify for most EVs in the market.”6 As well as that, the Government fleet
faces the challenge of the lack of current charging infrastructure and vehicle range. These
challenges are also faced by the public who we are exhorting to go electric.
The NZAA’s surveys indicate that range anxiety is one of the top concerns for consumers
when purchasing an EV and is certainly a barrier to entry.7 To combat this issue, this week
the NZAA launched EV Charge Finder,8 a project designed in collaboration with NZTA’s
EVROAM. EVROAM is a centralised database of all verified safe, reliable and interoperable
charging stations in New Zealand to enable drivers to access charging stations when
travelling around the country. A range of initiatives like EVROAM, supported by public and
private investment, will be required in order to drive behaviour change towards more carbon-
neutral travel.
5
Taken from the NZAA’s climate change survey conducted in November 2017.
6
See https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/07/08/142382/roadblocks-for-government-fleets-electric-shift?preview=1#.
7
Data taken from the AA’s EV 2017 survey.
8
See the NZAA’s Time & Distance Calculator at aa.co.nz/travel/time-and-distance-calculator/
67. Adapting to the impacts of climate change
As the Discussion Document points out, in the past 10 years the cost of weather events to
our transport system has increased from $20 million per year to over $90 million per year
based on MfE’s 2017 figures. These figures suggest it would be useful to understand
transport risks given the transport sector is particularly vulnerable to the physical impacts of
climate change.9
We agree that a national risk assessment is essential to understand transport risks across
the transport system, and to guide planning and investment decisions. We suggest that this
could be initiated as soon as possible by central Government, with future risk assessments
to be carried out by the Commission. We also agree that local climate change adaptation
challenges need to be addressed in conjunction with local government and local
stakeholders. The input from these essential stakeholders could be fed back into the national
adaptation plan, providing more certainty of funding and planning for ongoing climate
change-related impacts.
On this basis, we support the Zero Carbon Bill covering adaptation to climate change and
the proposed functions. We would also support a targeted adaptation reporting power that
would ensure a collaborative environment where government agencies are required to share
relevant information on their exposure and potential exposure to climate change risks. We
suggest this is mandatory to ensure that there is transparency of the transport network’s
exposure to climate change risks.
8. End of submission
Thank you again for the opportunity to provide feedback on the Zero Carbon Bill Discussion
Document.
As mentioned above, we are happy to meet with you to discuss the content of this
submission and provide more detail on the findings of our AA Member survey.
9
This is across the transport supply chain – for instance, disruptions to service operations, threats to assets and infrastructure,
changes to underlying markets like insurance, energy and tourism – are all affected as a result of the effects of climate change.
7You can also read
