What a difference a year makes, the National Party’s environment spokesperson, Scott Simpson, told the EDS Climate
Change and Business Conference yesterday.
It was a theme picked up by lots of other people at the conference.
This time last year, the conference was held against the background of negotiations to form a new government.
People attending that conference passed a resolution calling on whatever government was formed to set up a climate
change commission system along the lines of that operating in the United Kingdom.
A year on, the Labour-Green-New Zealand First Government is in negotiations to set up a commission.
Neither Simpson nor the new climate minister, James Shaw (who appeared on the same panel) were giving away any details,
but both talked positively about the fact they were talking.
“We are approaching this (cross-party talks) in good faith,” Shaw said. “This is bigger than politics and that’s how we
are treating it. I don’t know if we are going to make it, but I have a great deal more hope than I have ever had at any
point in our history on climate change.”
But underlying all the good news was the International Panel on Climate Change’s 1.5deg report, released on Monday.
The hard facts of that report – that the impacts of climate change are much worse at 1.5deg of warming than at 2deg of
warming, and that keeping warming to 1.5deg will require changes to energy, infrastructure, land, urban and industrial
systems on an unprecedented scale – featured repeatedly through the day.
The duties of business in the face of this information were spelt out clearly, with Bell Gully partner Simon Watt
telling directors that they need to take this report as seriously as they now take climate change, and Minter Ellison
Australia special counsel Sarah Barker saying that minimising climate exposure is now a fiduciary responsibility for
directors.
Actions being taken by businesses in New Zealand were on show. Sustainable Business Council chief Abbie Reynolds
explained how, with the help of a good dinner, she and Z Energy boss Mike Bennetts persuaded other chief executives to
publicly commit to emissions reductions through the Climate Leaders Coalition – a development which Shaw had earlier
said was one of the things that was giving him hope.
Contact Energy chief executive James Kilty said that his company had managed to cut its emissions by a million tonnes
and Fonterra boss Rob Spurway talked about the dairy co-operative’s plans for next-zero-carbon growth and to phase out
coal.
Council of Trade Unions vice-president Rachel Mackintosh, meanwhile, said that workers need to be at the table as the
country de-carbonises in order to ensure a “just” transition and Waikato Tainui chief executive Donna Flavell said the
needs of Māori, who were among those most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, must be considered.
The conference continues today, with discussions on the Emissions Trading Scheme, divestment and the future of
agriculture in a low-carbon world, and speeches by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and environment minister David Parker.
ends