The New Zealand government under new prime minister Chris Hipkins will stop the country's planned biofuels mandate rollout along with a raft of other policies enacted by his predecessor.
Hipkins took over from Jacinda Ardern following her shock resignation last month, but while climate change was a key focus of her administration, he said the government was doing too much too fast and needed to redirect its focus on reducing the cost of living.
"The biofuels mandate will not proceed," Hipkins said. "Introducing a biofuels mandate will increase the price of fuel, and given the pressure on households that's not something I'm prepared to do at this time."
The mandate, which was to go into effect on 1 April this year, would have required a 2.4pc emissions intensity reduction target by 2024 scaling up to 9pc by 2030, but had already been delayed by a year to 1 April 2024 to mitigate high fuel prices.
The government plans to raise the minimum wage by NZ$1.50/hour (95¢/hour) to NZ$22.70/hour from 1 April as part of the policy pivot, while saving money by stopping work on a new public media company and putting on hold a new social insurance scheme until economic conditions improve.
It is not yet clear whether other cornerstones of Ardern's green agenda could fall by the wayside, as Hipkins said there would be more changes to come to help struggling families. But he added that the government will continue with its comprehensive emissions reduction plan under his premiership.
The ruling Labour government came to power in 2017. Climate change and policy was one of the key issues for the Ardern administration, leading to a pledge to reach net zero emissions by 2050 that became a law in 2019.
