Sam Dean: NIWA climate scientist on Air New Zealand ditching their 2030 climate targets - Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Air New Zealand is ditching its carbon intensity reduction targets and will withdraw from the Science Based Targets initiative. 

It planned to cut carbon intensity 28.9 percent by 2030 - but blamed a lack of fuel-efficient planes and the costs of alternative fuel for this shift in priorities.

NIWA climate scientist Sam Dean says Air New Zealand didn't have a lot of choice in this situation.

"Fundamentally, their business is about flying planes. And as they openly said - they're dependent on a whole lot of things that are out of their control."

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