<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">New Zealand's government said Tuesday it will partner with U.S. investment giant BlackRock in its aim to become one of the first nations in the world to have its electricity grid run entirely from renewable energy.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The government said it was helping BlackRock launch a $1.2 billion fund to ramp up investments in wind and solar generation, as well as battery storage and green hydrogen. Some of the investment is expected to come from government-owned companies.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">New Zealand's electricity grid already runs off about 82% renewable energy after it damned rivers decades ago to produce hydroelectric power. The government said it aims to reach 100% renewable generation by the end of this decade.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The announcement comes two months out from an election, with the government hoping to burnish its green credentials. Critics point out the nation’s overall greenhouse gas emissions have barely budged since the government symbolically declared a climate emergency in 2020.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“This is a gamechanger for the clean-tech sector, and an example of the pragmatic and practical steps the government's taking to accelerate climate action while actually growing our economy and creating jobs,” Prime Minister Chris Hipkins told reporters in Auckland.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hipkins said the fund would allow New Zealand companies to produce intellectual property that could be commercialized across the world.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“Partnering with, and supporting, industry to solve the climate crisis is a no-brainer,” Hipkins said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">BlackRock released few details about the planned 2 billion New Zealand dollar ($1.22 billion) fund, but did say it would initially target institutional investors. It was the first time BlackRock had launched an initiative of its kind, said Andrew Landman, the head of BlackRock in Australia and New Zealand.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“The level of innovation is far greater in this country than we see elsewhere in clean tech,” Hipkins told reporters. “We are seeing enormous visionary capabilities out of those investee companies.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">BlackRock said making the grid completely green would require a total investment of about US$26 billion.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">BlackRock Chief Executive Larry Fink said on social media that “the world is looking for models of cooperation between the private and public sectors to ensure an orderly, just and fair energy transition.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">David Seymour, the leader of New Zealand's libertarian ACT Party, said the plan would push up power prices for little environmental gain.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Read: ADB to fund urban transport, climate resilience, renewables projects worth $628 million</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“New Zealanders don’t want to be subject to a ‘world first’ climate change experiment that will mean the government micromanages their lives," Seymour said in a statement. AP/UNB</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>