The Government has committed to what it says is a more ambitious emissions reduction target, but by 2030 it will only cut emissions 11 percent on 1990 levels.
Opposition parties and environmental groups say that is worse than the 10 to 20 percent cut the Government pledged at the Copenhagen climate conference in 2009.
Climate Change Issues Minister Tim Groser. Photo: RNZ / Alexander Robertson
Climate Change Issues Minister Tim Groser said the new target was a significant increase on the current goal of 5 percent below 1990 emission levels by 2020.
New Zealand will submit the new target to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Federated Farmers said the governments' target was an ambitious one, but was in line with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report .
However the Green Party has dismissed it as government spin as the target is below the 20 percent reduction on 1990 levels that the Farm Forestry Association regards as achievable.
An association spokesman, Hamish Levack said while that was disappointing, it was still an improvement on the government's previous goal and farm foresters will welcome that.
