New Zealand needs to reduce emissions at home

John Key needs to cut emissions at home, not pay poor countries to do our share, said the Green Party today.

“When John Key is in Copenhagen, the world will want to know how much New Zealand will cut its domestic carbon emissions by. It is not fair or good enough to pay poor countries to do our share,” said Green Party Co-Leader Russel Norman.

The current draft text at Copenhagen contains a requirement that developed countries primarily reduce their emissions at home.

“It is absolutely critical that the Copenhagen agreement requires countries to reduce their own emissions. Ultimately, just buying credits overseas will not create the right incentives for change and will not stop global emissions growing,” said Dr Norman.

“It is a form of climate colonialism when rich countries try to address climate change by paying poor countries for a problem they largely created.

“John Key’s publicly stated view that we don’t need to do our share on climate change because it’s easier for other countries to reduce emissions is pure fantasy. When questioned in the House he could not name a single country that it would be easier for.

“The truth is, there is a lot that New Zealand can do to make substantial cuts to our carbon emissions at a reasonable cost. Making these changes now will help put our economy on a sustainable footing and will maintain our invaluable clean green reputation,” said Dr Norman.

Further information

For more information on simple steps New Zealand can take to fight climate change, see the Green Party’s Getting There programme at http://www.greens.org.nz/press-releases/big-affordable-climate-change-target-sight, and our Green New Deal package at http://www.greens.org.nz/greennewdeal

Green MPs Jeanette Fitzsimons and Kennedy Graham will also be blogging daily from Copenhagen at http://blog.greens.org.nz/.