31 August 2007

New Zealand blocks meaningful climate change action

New Zealand's blocking of moves to make big cuts in greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2020 shows just how little will this Government has to walk the walk on climate change.

The 158 nations attending a United Nations meeting in Vienna have been debating a response to Climate Change once the first Kyoto period expires in 2012.

"I was shocked to see that New Zealand had joined Russia, Japan, Canada and Switzerland in opposing a draft text seeking non-binding cuts of 25 - 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, on the basis that such goals would be too demanding.

"It is shameful to see New Zealand willing to use its own failure to do anything about climate change over the past decade as a model for what the world should do in future. We should be trying to accelerate what we can do to protect the planet, and should not be dragging our feet in global forums.

"The signs are that we are at a tipping point on climate change. Last year, the Stern Report identified the economic and environmental costs of further delay, and the guideline goals being sought in Vienna had been accepted as achievable by many countries in the European Union.

"New Zealand's actions in Vienna make a mockery of the Government's stated goal of carbon neutrality. Such an ideal cannot be achieved without embracing the kind of cuts in consumption implied by the draft Vienna text.

"The time for delay - in the hope of a technological fix for climate change - is over. We cannot continue to blithely pass on to our grandchildren the real costs of our indulgences in big cars, heated towel rails and unlimited growth," Ms Fitzsimons says.

"What New Zealand's stance at Vienna signals is that the climate change debate next week at APEC will be mainly about posturing and fluffy ideals. What New Zealand should have done at the Vienna conference is support the EU calls for meaningful cuts by 2020, and it should be fighting for that position at APEC. Anything less at APEC will be mere window dressing," Ms Fitzsimons says.

ENDS

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