The Government’s second emissions reduction plan must be well-informed and well-understood, recognise practical opportunities for emissions reductions and be achievable for the civil contracting industry, and New Zealand as a whole
At the end of the year, the Climate Change Commission (He Pou a Rangi) will present the Government with advice to inform the strategic direction of the second emissions reduction plan, covering New Zealand’s 2026–2030 emissions budget.
In a submission on the Commission’s draft advice, released earlier this year, Civil Contractors New Zealand says the plan needs to better acknowledge the needs of the civil contracting industry. It must also recognise the industry’s work on key resilience infrastructure such as seawalls, and acknowledge practical opportunities and better support horizontal construction companies to do what’s required.
Civil Contractors New Zealand emphasises the importance of exploring achievable opportunities and proven technologies within the available timeframe. They highlight the need for discussion with industry to identify appropriate opportunities and express concern about the current Emissions Reduction Plan, which places the onus on client groups to independently produce emissions reduction guidance, creating uncertainty.
Civil Contractors New Zealand also highlights the crucial role of civil construction in providing essential services, such as resilience to natural hazards and climate change impacts. The Plan must recognise the challenges faced by contractors in balancing CO2 emissions reduction with the delivery of resilient infrastructure like transport networks, seawalls, stopbanks, and wetlands.
A holistic approach to infrastructure emissions, encompassing construction, operational, and decommissioning emissions, is advocated by Civil Contractors New Zealand to effectively manage and reduce environmental impact.
Civil Contractors New Zealand acknowledges the ongoing efforts of the heavy machinery sector in decarbonization through electricity, hydrogen, biofuels, and fuel efficiency measures. They also recognise that achieving widespread decarbonisation at scale by 2030 may take longer due to technological limitations and stresses the need for government support to expedite the transition to lower-emission alternatives and overcome barriers related to charging and refueling infrastructure.
Recycling initiatives already undertaken by civil contractors, encompassing concrete, asphalt, aggregate, steel, and construction and demolition waste, must also be recognised, Civil Contractors New Zealand says. However, they note the limited scope of these efforts due to existing facility constraints. Expanding recycling capabilities with widespread depots and facilities across the country is seen as crucial. Civil Contractors New Zealand also calls for better guidance, increased investigation, and flexibility in material reuse specifications, considering transportation and foundation engineering requirements.
Incorporating horizontal construction material supply chains, including asphalt, aggregate, and concrete, is considered essential to reduce transport distances and minimize wear and tear on the network, resulting in lower emissions. Strategically positioning recycling, reuse, and repurposing facilities closer to funded sites of use, such as new material recycling infrastructure and cleanfill sites, is emphasised by Civil Contractors New Zealand to reduce “carbon miles” associated with material transport.
To ensure consistent measurement of embodied carbon in infrastructure projects, Civil Contractors New Zealand recommends the use of the ISO 14064 framework of greenhouse gas accounting and verification. This standardized approach enables accurate assessment and comparison of emissions, facilitating informed decision-making and fostering industry accountability.
Civil Contractors New Zealand makes the following recommendations:
- Recognise in the draft advice the key role horizontal construction plays in constructing and maintaining civil infrastructure for development, resilience, and disaster response, the essential role this industry plays in New Zealand, and provide for this sector in the second ERP.
- In line with the previous recommendation, provide for horizontal construction to continue to provide essential services to New Zealand, regardless of the pace of the greenhouse gas emissions reduction transition.
- Adopt a holistic approach to infrastructure emissions accounting and policies for emissions reduction, to consider simultaneously construction and operational emissions.
- Include building and construction materials supply chains within the consideration of horizontal infrastructure (and other demand).
- Note the potential of electricity and hydrogen to power heavy machinery, and acknowledge that this will likely take longer than 2030 to achieve at scale, particularly at remote work sites.
- Support a program of work to make charging stations and hydrogen refueling stations more readily available.
- Support innovation in horizontal construction to meet their current and future biofuels needs, as part of decarbonizing heavy machinery fleets.
- Provide advice on whether biofuels are going to be a permanent solution or a transitional technology to better inform civil contractors in planning for their own transition and safeguarding their future.
- Include in advice and support the significant potential for greater fuel efficiency in heavy machinery.
- Include within the draft advice matters relating to construction and demolition waste, such as the recycling, reuse, and repurposing of asphalt, aggregate, steel, and concrete, including in building new infrastructure, and including in cleanfills.
- Adopt better planning and provision for proximate recycling, reuse, and repurposing of construction and demolition waste to reduce the “carbon miles” relating to waste management.
- Support innovation in the further development of waste recycling, reuse, and repurposing technologies.
- Adopt the ISO 14064 framework of greenhouse gas accounting and verification for calculating the embodied carbon of horizontal infrastructure.
- Ensure the above is the basis for decision-making by Road Controlling Authorities and other authorities/agencies and regulators, as regards horizontal infrastructure.
Read the Commission’s draft advice here
Read Civil Contractors New Zealand’s submission here
