Latest World Energy Outlook shows Govt needs to act now

The latest World Energy Outlook (WEO) report released today says governments need to act now to reduce demand for fossil fuels, said the Green Party.

“The energy world is facing unprecedented uncertainty,” said Nobuo Tanaka, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) at the launch of the latest edition of the IEA’s annual report on the WEO.

Green Party Co-leader Dr Russel Norman said: “Our Government is flying blind. They have no plan for how high oil prices will affect our transport sector and economy. They continue to look backwards.”

New Zealand’s economy is extremely vulnerable to high oil prices because our transport sector is so reliant on imported oil.  Oil and vehicles make up 30 percent of our total imports.

In response to written questions from Dr Norman, Transport Minister Steven Joyce stated that this Government had not conducted any research into the effect of high oil prices on travel patterns.

Mr Joyce also admitted that no explicit analysis has been undertaken of the risk of oil shocks within the business cases for the Roads of National Significance, new motorway projects that will cost at least $11 billion over the next 10 years.

Dr Norman said that traffic volumes on State Highways fell significantly in 2008 and 2009 due to high oil prices, and the New Zealand Transport Agency’s 2008 research report on rising oil prices demonstrated that demand for walking, cycling, trains and buses would increase significantly over the next few decades.

“It is irresponsible that this Government is throwing billions of dollars away on projects that will not help the economy at all, in a time when economic recovery is perilous and we are deeply in debt.

“The $11 billion they are spending on motorways is $11 billion we won’t have to invest in our rail network and bus services, which are already creaking at the seams due to high demand.

“We need to future proof our transport system and economy now. If the Government needs practical ideas, we have plenty,” said Dr Norman.