R&D funding boost should prioritise green tech

The reinstitution of funding to support research and development is a step in the right direction but the new spend needs to prioritise research in green technology, the Green Party said today.

“The Government proposed $321 million R&D spend needs to target green tech and clean tech solutions to sustaining our prosperity,” said Green Party Co-Leader Russel Norman.

“We are already reaching the ecological limits of the planet. If we’re to sustain our quality of life, we’ll need to use research, science, and technology to find ways to reduce our environmental footprint.

“And any green tech solutions we discover here at home will have a ready market abroad,” said Dr Norman.

Nicholas Stern, one of the world’s top economists, believes green technologies have the potential to bring nations out of the recession and fuel economic growth that will be sustainable in the long-term, transforming society in as striking a way as railways and information technology have done previously.

“The next economic wave is the green economic wave and, if New Zealand wishes to prosper, it needs to prioritise research, science, and technology spending accordingly. It’s about picking winners in the areas we know there will be huge future growth in: renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, green tech manufacturing, and energy efficiency.

“Yet John Key’s Government is heading in the opposite direction with its dumb extractive approach to mining in our most precious conservation lands and its unsustainable approach to managing Canterbury's rivers,” said Dr Norman.

“We can’t keep running our economy on the premise of simply mining more, farming more, and consuming more. We have to grow smart, promoting green tech solutions to the environmental challenges we face.”