Tourism and the National Emissions Reduction Plan

ERP – no, not the noise you make after eating a Jimmy’s pie too quickly, but rather New Zealand’s first Emissions Reduction Plan. It was published last month under the Climate Change Response Act and requires the Government to act to reduce emissions across the economy and to support all New Zealanders to make the most of the transition to a carbon zero economy. The word ‘tourism’ appears only twice in the 348-page ERP document. Simultaneously, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment is developing a Tourism Industry Transformation Plan (ITP). The initial scope for the Tourism ITP includes the word ‘climate’ only once where it says: “A strong workforce supports the tourism system’s resilience and enables shifts in other areas, such as responding to climate change and moving from volume to value”. We therefore have an ERP that says very little about the tourism sector and a Tourism ITP that may likely say very little about climate. Here I am going to try and fill that gap and see what I can read between the lines of the ERP to address the question of what challenges and opportunities the ERP poses for the tourism sector.

1. Electric Vehicles

One stated goal in the ERP is “increasing access to electric vehicles, beginning the process of decarbonising heavy transport and freight and helping more people to walk, cycle and take public transport”. I own an electric vehicle and, whenever I am taking it on holiday, one of the first things I consider is “Will I be able to charge it up where I will be staying?”. Given the massive push to lift the uptake of electric vehicles articulated in the ERP, I suspect that more and more people are going to be asking this question of accommodation providers. Let’s consider the finances. My Leaf has a 40-kWh battery and since I am unlikely to run it completely to zero, the absolute maximum I am likely to want to charge it is 35 kWh. On a 10 Amp plug I can draw 2.2 kW, so it would take 16 hours to fully charge the car. People are unlikely to charge their car at holiday accommodation for more than 12 hours so let’s consider a full charge as 26 kWh. At 33c/kWh (about what I am paying for electricity at home), that would cost $8.70 - let’s call it $10. So, if you’re an accommodation provider and you’re offering free electric vehicle charging, you might be looking at a $10/night additional cost. What does that mean you should do? Increase your fees by $10/night and offer free electric vehicle charging – pocket the $10 for those not driving electric vehicles? Charge electric vehicle owners $10/night for an overnight charge? Offer free electric vehicle charging but keep your prices as they are and see this as another way to differentiate yourself from your competition? What you do will, of course, depend on your circumstances but I would strongly encourage you to consider these options.

2. Flying

The ERP calls out the partnership with Air New Zealand on the development of sustainable aviation fuels. I wrote quite a lot about the development of sustainable aviation fuels last month and so won’t say any more about that here.

3. Improving energy efficiency

Another initiative highlighted in the ERP is “supporting businesses to improve energy efficiency and move away from fossil fuels, such as coal, by continuing to roll out the Government Investment in Decarbonising Industry fund”. While your operation may not be sufficiently large to qualify for finances through the Decarbonising Industry Fund, it may be worth looking to see where gains in energy efficiency could be had, and what other sources of financial support there may be for that. For example, there is a push to ban new low- and medium-temperature coal boilers and phase out existing ones. If you’re using a coal boiler, there may be financial support available for you to transition to a non-fossil fuel boiler.

In terms of heat sources, I think that there is a lot more that can be done around ground- and water-sourced heat pumps. A few years ago, I promoted the idea of developing a medium-scale water-source heat pump that would extract heat from the Clutha River to heat the council buildings and surrounding buildings in Alexandra. This is a far more efficient heat source than the air – most heat pumps are currently air-source heat pumps. I believe a small working group was set up to further explore that option for Alexandra, but I am not sure what ever came of that. If you are a tourism service provider that has large demands for heating, and you are located close to some body of water (a river would be preferable but a lake would also be fine), I would be interested in talking with you about the potential for a “proof of concept” water-sourced heat pump and I believe that the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority would also be interested in this.

4. Waste

The ERP also aims to “reduce the amount of waste (including food waste) going to landfills”. I think that this is an easy one to tackle. Essentially it comes down to addressing the question “Do you have a process for separating and correctly disposing of waste, and, in the case of compost, do you have either on-site facilities or can you send appropriate waste elsewhere for making compost?”. If you already do these things, then make it clear that you do because visibility on these sorts of actions is going to become increasingly important. If you don’t already have a good waste management plan, there may now be support for you to transition to something better than what you are currently doing.

5. Prioritising nature-based solutions in planning and regulatory systems

For the tourism sector there is a real opportunity here. There are several “nature-based” methods both for mitigating climate change (think tree planting - I wrote about that back in January) and for adapting to changes in the climate that we are already committed to, e.g., planting mangrove plantations along erosion-prone shorelines, or re-establishing wetlands to slow runoff and reduce flood risk. These nature-based solutions would also increase the biodiversity of local ecosystems. More thought needs to be given to build tourism activities around the “wilderness experience” and around projects that simultaneously implement a nature-based solution to climate change while also enhancing the biodiversity of native ecosystems which people are always interested in coming to see. Consider what has been achieved at Zealandia in Wellington and the number of people who visit that facility.

6. Buildings

The ERP aims to “lift the quality of home and commercial construction with the use of sustainable and low-carbon, renewable materials”. This may incentivise the building of more novel structures in the tourism sector that may have struggled to get approval under current regulatory regimes. I note here that the Resource Management Act is being replaced by the: (1) Natural and Built Environments Act, (2) a Strategic Planning Act, and (3) a Climate Adaptation Act. I will be keeping an eye on the details of these new pieces of legislation since I hope that they will open the door to more creative, climate-friendly ways of construction that can then also create attractions for tourists – who doesn’t like sleeping in a treehouse.

Those are some of the key points I noted while reading through the ERP. I will continue to track developments in this regard and include in future pieces anything that its relevant to the tourism sector.