Ending GIDI a win for climate action

Getting rid of the Government Investment in Decarbonising Industry (GIDI) Fund is a welcome move that will help restore confidence in the Emissions Trading Scheme to drive net emissions reductions, says Energy Resources Aotearoa.

Energy Resources Aotearoa Chief Executive John Carnegie says:

"New Zealand has an Emissions Trading Scheme that is the envy of the world, but it needs to be left to do its job. Taxpayer subsidised climate action doesn’t make the price of technology any cheaper and can only increase the total costs to society of our efforts to reduce emissions. We are pleased to see it is getting axed."

Carnegie says the existence of the scheme betrayed a fundamental misunderstanding of emissions policy.

"Our country has a fixed number of New Zealand Units under the Emissions Trading Scheme. By subsidising low-emissions projects, the previous government was not reducing net emissions - they were simply freeing up units for use elsewhere in the economy, thus moving the problem, not solving it."

Carnegie says that this "waterbed effect" is routinely ignored by the climate industry, to the detriment of New Zealand’s collective well-being.

"We are pleased to see the end of this wasteful programme. The egregious climate rhetoric surrounding it could not prevent the public from seeing it for what it was: government picking fuel and technology winners.

"This is a good move that will restore confidence in the Emissions Trading Scheme, drive emissions reductions where they are most cost-effective, and ensure there is a level playing field for businesses operating in all sectors of the economy."