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New Zealand government welcomes moves to curb aircraft emissions

Xinhua, October 7, 2016 Adjust font size:

The New Zealand government on Friday welcomed the adoption of an international agreement to address emissions from air travel.

Transport Minister Simon Bridges confirmed that New Zealand would voluntarily join the measure, which will come into effect in 2021.

The voluntary global measure was adopted by members of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which is responsible for the regulation of international aviation, including measures for emissions reduction in the sector.

"New Zealand is one of 64 states, representing more than 83.8 percent of international aviation activity, that intend to voluntarily participate in the global measure from its outset," Bridges said in a statement.

International aviation was not included in the Paris Agreement on climate change agreed last year, which was why New Zealand would join the voluntary global measure.

"It joins the government's support for the Paris Agreement, which we have ratified this week, measures to increase electric vehicle uptake, and the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) the world's first major ETS to affect airlines," he said.

Last week Bridges released the New Zealand Aviation Emissions Reduction Action Plan, which outlined current and planned measures to address aviation emissions and covered four key parties: government, air traffic control, airports and airlines.

Transport accounted for around 17 percent of New Zealand's emissions. Endit