The Green Party is calling on the Government to stand firm and work with allies to progress climate action as Donald Trump signals his intent to pull out of the Paris Climate Accords once again.

“Every human being, from Aotearoa to the United States of America, lives on the same planet,” says Green Co-leader and Climate Spokesperson, Chlöe Swarbrick.

“Every action, of any Government, that increases climate changing emissions increases the frequency and severity of catastrophes like the Los Angeles fires or our North Island’s Cyclone Gabrielle.

“Trump is talking about colonising Mars while scorching Earth.

“He’s right that ‘a radical and corrupt establishment has extracted power and wealth’ from citizens - but he’s giving that system a shot of steroids by enabling more corporate profiteering from polluting fossil fuels.

“Regular people pay the price while billionaires get privatised firefighter forces.

“If the United States follows through on pulling out of the Paris Agreement, they join Iran, Libya and Yemen as the only nations on planet Earth unwilling to formally cooperate on securing our collective future.

“Christopher Luxon talks at length about how he’s got to work with international leaders even if he disagrees with them. How about working with those we apparently agree with to just take action on climate change?

“The climate crisis is a ticking time bomb - one we, perversely, actually know the code to diffuse. We either transform our economy into something that serves people and planet, or watch it go up in flames.

“Trump’s election requires us to show what we stand for and do it, instead of hiding behind the big boys.

“Christopher Luxon can and should set an ambitious Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) for 2035, scrap opening new fossil fuel mines and drilling and actually commit to meeting our 2030 NDC.

“What I’m saying to you is, words are cheap,” says Chlöe Swarbrick.

© Scoop Media