Climate Change Commission report a step forward, Whanganui mayor Hamish McDouall says

The Climate Change Commission has recommended a raft of changes to New Zealand's emissions profile, but what does it mean for Whanganui? Photo / Bevan Conley

Whanganui mayor Hamish McDouall says the Climate Change Commission's final recommendations are an important step in responding to the impending crisis humanity faces.

The recommendations lay out sweeping required changes to New Zealand's emissions profile, in an effort to put New Zealand on track to carbon neutrality by 2050.

The biggest takeaways from the 400-page report released this week relate to transport, agriculture and energy.

In the transport sector, the commission has said that to achieve carbon neutrality, all cars imported from 2035 must be electric, and road transport must be decarbonised by 2050.

The commission has also recommended that the Government sets targets to get more people walking, cycling and using public transport, which will require work alongside regional authorities such as councils.

McDouall said it was important to realise what was coming and respond to it.

"There are some things there that will mean we have to rethink the way we live our lives," he said.

"I've got to say, while the farmers might be worried about changing the way they do things, the fact is that all of us are going to have to change the way we do things. We need to find ways to live differently, and it may be more expensive."

One of the most significant recommendations in the report was further investment in public transport from central and local government, something McDouall acknowledges still needs work.

"No, we're not ready yet, and that's something we need to work on. But that's not something we've just started now - we've been working since two years ago on plans to change our emissions profile.

Whanganui District Mayor Hamish McDouall says the recommendations are a positive step, and both central and local government have work to do. Photo / File

"Public transport usage has gone down and down, and it's not necessarily a supply and demand thing. But it can be because it's inconvenient and confusing. The council has a role to change that.

"I've lived in several cities, and I didn't even own a car between 1995 and 2005. Public transport was totally adequate. We're not geared up here yet, but work is under way."

In the agriculture space, the commission has recommended a 10 per cent drop in biogenic methane by the year 2030, and suggested the Government looks to bring agriculture into the emissions trading scheme.

But despite the clear-cut nature of the recommendations, there are a variety of different views in the community about what they really mean.

Whanganui Federated Farmers President Mike Cranstone said a small country like New Zealand simply couldn't afford to take such drastic steps.

"A lot of this trying to achieve New Zealand being the first country in the world to be carbon-zero by 2050 is being driven by a few politicians' egos," Cranstone said.

Federated Farmers Whanganui President Mike Cranstone says the answer to climate change is science and technology, not rushed radical changes. Photo / File

The biggest issue related to the recommendations was just how significantly New Zealand's way of life would change, Cranstone said.

"The extra costs that they're going to put on every household, whether that's the fuel, electricity or the cost of the car that you drive.

"Agriculture currently makes up over 70 per cent of all money that comes into the country from what we export.

"This government has never done any sound economic analysis on their proposals.

"They've come up with a number of 2.5 per cent of GDP if we don't do anything, but the more important number to New Zealand is what the cost of this to each household will be."

So what are the answers?

Cranstone thinks the answer lies with technology, not 'radical change' that will only go to "make lives more difficult".

"We need to progress change and adopt technologies, but at the moment we're trying to do this so quick we're going to destroy our economy.

"We need to move away from this obsession of being carbon-zero by 2050, and concentrate on making sensible economic process and not be assessed with a target."

But McDouall reckons the commission lays out the right path that not only lowers our emissions but creates opportunities within the economy.

"We have a responsibility to act as a country and as a council, and reducing our emissions is the most obvious path to do that."

"Ultimately, the future above 1.5 degrees of warming is bleak, and it will make life incredibly difficult for our descendants."