Signposting a sustainable future

New Zealand can become a global brand leader – the world's first clean, green and sustainable economy.

The challenge is to build an open and competitive economy based on innovation and best practice – an economy that also safeguards our resources for the future. This will protect and enhance our lifestyles - without sacrificing our living standards.

To get there New Zealand is adopting the following targets:

• By 2025, 90 per cent of our electricity generation is from renewable sources.
• By 2040, our per capita transport greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by half of those in 2007.
• We will be one of the first countries in the world to widely deploy electric vehicles.
• We remain a world leader in agricultural emissions reduction research, and in the early adoption and application of new technologies and processes that reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.
• By 2020, we achieve a net increase in forest area of 250,000 hectares from 2007 levels.

These targets are challenging but achievable. And government, business and the community will need to work together to keep the momentum going.

Achieving these targets will allow us to be effectively:

• Carbon neutral in the electricity sector by 2025
• Carbon neutral in the stationary energy sector by 2030
• Carbon neutral in the transport sector by 2040
• Carbon neutral in the total energy sector by 2040