New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (left) smiles at her Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong during a joint press conference at the Istana presidential palace in Singapore on April 19, 2022. Lee said the two countries will be working more closely on the green economy and the fight against climate change, The Strait Times reported. Photo: AFP

New Zealanders who trade in their gas-guzzling car will get financial aid toward buying a cleaner alternative, in one of a raft of climate change initiatives announced by Jacinda Ardern's government Monday.

The country's first Emissions Reduction Plan, costing nearly NZ$3 billions ($1.88 billion), outlined spending for the next four years to help meet its goal of cutting carbon dioxide emissions to net-zero by 2050.

A "scrap and replace" pilot scheme will initially give 2,500 low-income families financial support toward an electric or hybrid vehicle if they replace their petrol- or diesel-powered car.

Transport Minister Michael Wood said the scheme's details were yet to be finalized but he envisaged it would expand rapidly to include "tens of thousands" of New Zealanders.

He said the government's ultimate goal was for less reliance on all cars by 2035 by getting people to switch to public transport or other alternatives.

The government also allocated NZ$650 million to help cut fossil fuel use in the industrial sector over the next four years.

There will also be an investment in developing agricultural technology.

Conservationists noted the timing of the investment, coming on the same day scientists announced they had recorded a mass bleaching of sea sponges in New Zealand waters for the first time ever.

An ocean heat wave damaged the sponges in the normally cold waters off Fiordland, in the country's southwest, raising concern about the impact climate change is having on marine ecosystems in the region.

AFP