Nick Smith, National Party Environment Spokesperson enjoys a sausage at Greenpeace New Zealand's solar powered sausage sizzle outside of parliament (after being moved on from the steps of parliament) under the banner 'All sizzle no sausage' to highlight the difference between political talk and substantial actions on climate change.
Greenpeace New Zealand puts on a solar powered sausage sizzle outside of parliament today under the banner 'All sizzle no sausage' to highlight the difference between political talk and substantial actions on climate change.
Nick Smith, National Party Environment spokesperson and Nandor, Green MP, enjoy a snarler at the Greenpeace New Zealand solar powered sausage sizzle outside of parliament today under the banner 'All sizzle no sausage' to highlight the difference between political talk and substantial actions on climate change.
That was the message Greenpeace delivered to the Beehive today
during our solar-powered barbeque on parliament grounds.
We need real action on climate change - not hollow promises.
Despite our clean green image New Zealand ranks ninth worst for
increasing emissions among the developed countries that signed up
to the Kyoto Protocol. The greenhouse gas intensity of our economy
is fourth highest in the OECD and our greenhouse gas emissions per
capita are in the top 12 countries worldwide. If every country
produced our levels of greenhouse gases, the world wouldn't stand a
chance.
New Zealand needs to live up to our clean green image and lead
by example. We may be a small player on the world stage, but we
punch above our weight internationally. We could - and should - be
setting an example. If we expect other countries to make the cuts
in greenhouse gas emissions needed to address climate change we
need less hot air and more action in our own back yard.
Climate change is a killer, but our politicians are treating it
like a vote-winner. Meanwhile each month of talk and no action
means more greenhouse gases pumping into the atmosphere and less
chance we'll be able to sufficiently cut back our emissions. Helen
Clark and John Key must show more substance and less bluster if
we're to avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change.
As a new Greenpeace billboard in Wellington says: "Climate
change waits for no politician".
Let's look at each of the parties in more detail and see how
they stack up.
Labour - Prime
Minister Helen Clark has been trying to sell Labour as the party
which will fix the problem, brandishing buzz words like
"sustainability" and "carbon neutral". But slogans won't reduce New
Zealand's skyrocketing emissions.
As political columnist Colin James pointed out in his August 7
column in the Herald, "Clark's breathtaking rhetoric last October
and in February about leading the world and being carbon neutral
has turned out near-indistinguishable from the gases she
abhors."
The Labour- led government is moving to implement an emissions
trading scheme, but the word on the street is it won't go far
enough. For one thing, agriculture is likely to be exempt
initially, meaning nearly half of all New Zealand's greenhouse gas
emissions will be excluded. It's crucial that all sectors face some
kind of price on their greenhouse gas emissions at the earliest
possible date. And the trading scheme is just one of a string of
tools that must be implemented to effectively tackle climate
change.
Labour keeps undermining its "carbon neutral" goal. They take
backward steps like granting massive oil and gas exploration
permits in the Great South Basin to foreign investors including
Exxon Mobil, the oil company most fervent in its opposition to
action on climate change. By doing so, Labour's goal of carbon
neutrality is literally going up in smoke.
Definitely all sizzle and no sausage.
National - The
National Party has also been very busy trying to paint itself with
green brushstrokes. Leader John Key has made talking about the
environment one of his top priorities and is taking every
opportunity to impress upon New Zealanders that National "takes the
issue of climate change very seriously". The party's environmental
wing, the Blue Greens, has released "A Bluegreen vision for New
Zealand".
But the only detail it has provided is the feel-good
catch-phrase "50 by 50" (shorthand for a target of a 50% reduction
in carbon equivalent net emissions, as compared to 1990 levels, by
2050).
The "50 by 50" slogan might sound good but the reality is very
different. It is lower than targets set by all other Western
developed nations and lacks any detail as to how it could be
achieved. Moreover, the proposal will initially only apply to
electricity sector emissions, which again ignores the 50% of New
Zealand's emissions that come from agriculture.
Once again, all sizzle and no sausage.
Smaller parties - Of
the smaller parties in Parliament, only the Green Party has
credible climate change policies. Both New Zealand First and
United actively campaigned against the carbon charge that would
have helped reduce emissions.
What needs to happen now?
If we want to avoid the most catastrophic climate impacts, New
Zealand must play its part. We must reduce emissions by 30% from
1990 levels by 2020 and 90% by 2050. To do so, we need more than an
emissions trading scheme and a lot more than slogans such as
"carbon neutrality" or "50 by 50."
Each of us need to call on New Zealand's political leaders to
set meaningful emission reduction targets, put a price on all
greenhouse gas pollution, and implement effective policies that
encourage environmentally friendly renewable energy, energy
efficiency, public transport and a reduction in agricultural
emissions.
Greenpeace will be doing its bit to urge political leaders to
act. We're asking you to play your part too.
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