Even Thatcher realised the need for government action on climate

Worldwide, New Zealand has a uniquely heavy reliance on offsetting through exotic forestry. Image: Newsroom.

In this latest piece for Newsroom, I argue that The government’s Emissions Reduction Plan takes ‘small government’ to an unprecedented new level – neglecting its duty to protect our wellbeing and livelihoods and abrogating its global responsibility.

Last week a record was broken. Not at the Olympics, but off the Wellington Coast. At Baring Head, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reached an all-time high – and, ominously, the data shows that the pace of increase is now accelerating. In the same week the globe recorded its hottest day on record – twice.

There was something deeply troubling in the voice of climate scientist James Renwick as he spoke about the implications of this new record. He urged New Zealanders to voice their concern about climate change and demand that politicians and big business take action. Renwick – a Prime Minister’s Science Prize winner, lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and a former climate change commissioner – has been sounding the alarm for decades. His tone was plaintive; he sounded utterly defeated.

And he has good reason for this deep sense of despondency. Last month, the Government released the second draft Emissions Reduction Plan, as it is required to under the Zero Carbon Act. As the centrepiece that sets the pathway for our country to contribute to global mitigation efforts and meet our international obligations, this plan should be momentous and bold. But it fails the most important test: to take the increasingly real prospect of catastrophic climate change seriously.

Continue reading the article at this link on Newsroom.