The next generation looks to us for a green, low-carbon future

IN New Zealand, we have a Maori proverb - "whatu ngarongaro te tangata, toitu te whenua" - as people disappear from sight, the land remains.

It speaks to an underlying truth - that our generation will eventually perish, and what will be passed on to our successors is planet Earth. The critical question, though, is the shape in which we hand over the planet to our future generations.

Climate change is an existential threat to all of us - this fact is not up for debate. How we address climate change, as countries, as communities and as citizens of the world, is however an ongoing discussion, and one that New Zealand has brought to the fore as the chair of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) this year.

As with all "wicked problems", climate change is caused by a number of complex and interrelated factors, with the shape of the problem varying greatly from one country/region to the next. However, the fossil fuels used to power our cities, industries and almost every aspect of our lives, are one of the biggest contributors to climate change.

Collectively, the 21 Apec economies account for about 60 per cent of the world's energy consumption - and 85 per cent of this comes from the use of fossil fuels.

As a large and dynamic region, this relatively high energy consumption is hardly a surprise. What is troubling is how these figures are expected to increase exponentially as the region becomes more industrialised and populations move from rural to urban areas. Based on current trajectories, it will be challenging for Apec economies to meet the goals set out in the Paris Agreement.

As we move towards a period of recovery from the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is vital that the region works together now to achieve a greener future. The good news is that we know what needs to happen for the region to transition to a low-carbon future - and we have the tools to do it.

As the host of Apec this year, New Zealand is committed to demonstrating the region's collective resolve to address climate change and promote a low emissions future, underscoring the Apec leaders' pledge in the Apec Putrajaya Vision 2040 agreed upon last year.

Specifically, New Zealand is focused on supporting the phase-out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies. Numbers show that US$5.2 trillion was spent on fossil fuel subsidies in 2017, making up 6.5 per cent of gross domestic product that year.

That is why New Zealand is now working with the other Apec economies to explore options for implementing a voluntary standstill on such fossil fuel subsidies. Before the world can roll back, we have to stop the increase.

At 84 per cent and growing, New Zealand currently has the fourth-highest renewable electricity percentage in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), securing our position as one of the world's leaders in renewable energy. This makes us well placed to work with the Apec region to become the powerhouse of renewables.

THE FOUNDATION: KNOWLEDGE SHARING

The New Zealand government has also committed over NZ$2 billion to renewable energy projects since 2018, with additional support being provided through our NZ$400 million Green Investment Fund. As a result, work on renewable energy has really taken off, including through a significant programme of work in renewable electricity generation and pathways for producing green hydrogen. All of this is aimed at helping us to achieve our nation's legislated goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Producing renewable electricity and attaining the status of a low-carbon economy is a long-term commitment of New Zealand. However, our efforts will be for naught without the collaboration of our regional counterparts in achieving our common goal of a net-zero carbon future.

Understanding this, we are pursuing partnerships with like-minded nations around the region to further enable the use of low-carbon or renewable energy technologies. For instance, in July this year, we partnered with Singapore, one of our most trusted, reliable, and longstanding partners, on an Arrangement Regarding Cooperation on Low-Carbon Hydrogen.

Building on the Singapore-New Zealand Enhanced Partnership signed in 2019, this arrangement marks the start of a journey between our two countries to collaborate on the production, deployment, and research into a new hydrogen economy.

New Zealand's abundant renewable energy makes this cooperation particularly significant because it allows us to explore with Singapore the potential export and use of low-carbon hydrogen - much better for the environment than hydrogen produced using fossil fuels.

The foundation for this is knowledge sharing: by partnering, we can learn about hydrogen's use and deployment, through small demonstration projects and right up to large-scale construction. This will ultimately assist both of our nations in transforming our respective energy and transport sectors.

This is just one example of how economies in the region can work together in sharing best practices and exploring other partnerships to achieve a low-carbon and greener future.

There can, and must be, further regional collaboration, particularly in areas such as energy storage for renewable energy, the liberalisation of trade in environmental goods and services that underpin the renewable sector, and the development of energy efficiency indicators, or green economy standards, policies, and measures.

Building a greener future from the pandemic will not happen overnight, but I strongly believe that we must continue to collectively work towards this goal. Now, more than ever, we must ensure that the world we leave for future generations is safer, and a whole lot greener than it is now.

• The writer is New Zealand High Commissioner to Singapore.