Professor Michael McMahon:

One advantage of the national development plan is that it sets out some goals and targets for where we should invest. Obviously, it would be ideal to hit all of those targets. One way to address the challenges, particularly those relating to supply constraints on the construction side, is to take actions that enable us to get the most bang for our buck in the context of climate. This is one way to address that along with thinking carefully about how we address whatever supply constraints we are facing. We are not doing this on our own. Every country will be looking for larger and more efficient battery storage. Every country will be looking for the materials needed to build up the infrastructure for charging points for electric vehicles. If we wait too long there is then the risk that we go diving in to try and buy these things at exactly the same time that other countries are suddenly trying to do it. That is exactly the type of supply constraint we would ideally avoid. The answer is that we have a plan, we have the national development plan, and we have guidance from the Climate Change Advisory Council and others. We need to start taking these plans seriously, work to hit the targets they contain and do these things now rather than waiting until the last possible minute.