NZ failing to meet climate targets; more drastic action needed

Wellington, June 9 New Zealand is not on track to meet its climate change targets and more drastic action needs to be taken, a new report has found.

On Wednesday, the Climate Change Commission released its roadmap for how New Zealand can become carbon neutral by 2050, DPA reported.

It said "short-term thinking" had hindered real progress and the commission had to "find the balance between pushing hard to catch up after years of limited action and moving at a sustainable pace."

"There needs to be some hard work done now that will pay dividends later," the report said.

Phasing out coal boilers, increasing low-emission vehicle numbers and changes to farming are among the suggestions in the document.

The government must now take the advice and, before the end of the year, publish its own plan setting out how it will meet climate targets.

The commission's report was "one of the most significant documents" Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern would receive, she said.

"That's because the decisions we make off the back of it will truly shape the future."

She said if global emissions remained high, temperatures would increase and the impact of that would be "immense, widespread and catastrophic" for New Zealand.

"Acting now is not a choice. It's an imperative," Ardern said.

"We have achieved a lot, but as today's report makes clear, there is more to do," she said.