Generation Zero welcomes announcement of the Interim Climate Change Committee
Today, youth climate change campaigners Generation Zero welcomed the announcement of the Interim Climate Change
Committee, and congratulated the six experts selected to lay the groundwork for progressing a Zero Carbon Act for
Aotearoa New Zealand.
“Today’s appointment marks another step towards our transition to a carbon neutral future, and we are pleased to see the
Government is moving along with this,” said James Young-Drew, Policy Lead for Generation Zero’s Zero Carbon Act.
“The Zero Carbon Act will set legally-binding targets for reducing New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions, while also
helping us adapt to the inevitable effects of climate change. The interim committee has a crucial role to play in
providing expertise and long-term thinking as this climate law takes shape.”
“We commend the Government on the diversity of expertise selected across a range of key sectors and issues” says
Young-Drew. “Independent climate commissions play an instrumental role in countries such as Denmark, Finland and the UK;
it’s clear that we are following a model of best practice.”
“The transparency and accountability that comes from establishing an independent body is crucial to the success of a
Zero Carbon Act, and is something we’ve included in our proposed policy framework from the very beginning.”
In Generation Zero’s proposed Zero Carbon Act, the final Climate Commission would be established as a Parliamentary
Office, equivalent to the Auditor-General, the Ombudsman and the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, for the
purpose of holding the government of the day to account.
ENDS