14 August 2019
It has been revealed the Government ignored official advice from the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) when setting
the methane target for the Climate Change Amendment Act Bill, National’s Climate Change spokesperson Scott Simpson says.
“Briefings obtained under the Official Information Act show that MPI advised that a reduction of 25 per cent would
represent a realistic emissions reduction that can be achieved with technologies currently under development and
avoiding significant land use change.
“Anything further would come at significant cost and moves into the realm of far more speculative technological
advances.
“National has been strongly opposed to the onerous and poorly researched target of up to 47 per cent in the Climate
Change Amendment Act Bill, as we believe it will have perverse effects on the primary sector, and that targets should be
based on solid scientific reasoning.
“The Minister of Climate Change has said that the briefing provided ‘bad advice’, but in reality it is just another
example of him only listening to advice that suits his narrative.
“Previously he has dismissed reports from the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment on the methane target, and
he refused to listen to the Climate Change Chief Executives Board, who advised him that the methane target should be
given to an expert group such as the Climate Change Commission.
“National accepts the need to reduce emissions and support global efforts to do so, but we must also be aware of the
potential costs and ensure decisions are backed by solid scientific reasoning.”
ends