The Climate Crisis

• The Ministry for the Environment (MfE) has the primary responsibility for reporting on NZs progress.
• measures and definitions relating to greenhouse gases
• emission tracker

• During the 2017 election campaign, Jacinda Ardern stated that climate change was her generation’s “nuclear-free moment”.
• In an interview with the Spinoff in October last year, however, Ardern said she had “upgraded” that position because she did not see the same level of national unity around climate change that there had been around nuclear-free New Zealand.
• “What we’re doing on climate change – it is just that much harder because it’s a call to action for everyone.
• I’m hoping we can get to the place of having that same unified moment that we had around nuclear-free for climate change.”

New Zealand’s share of global GHG emissions is small, but our gross emissions per person are high. New Zealand’s emissions mainly come from the combustion of fossil fuels that emit CO₂ (carbon dioxide), and agriculture, which emits CH₄ (methane) and N₂O (nitrous oxide).

Data used may not include the latest emissions data, which can be found at New Zealand’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory.

The Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Act 2019 provides a framework by which New Zealand can develop and implement clear and stable climate change policies that:

• contribute to the global effort under the Paris Agreement to limit the global average temperature increase to 1.5° Celsius above pre-industrial levels
• allow New Zealand to prepare for, and adapt to, the effects of climate change.

The changes do four key things.

They:

• set a new domestic greenhouse gas emissions reduction target for New Zealand to:
  • reduce net emissions of all greenhouse gases (except biogenic methane) to zero by 2050
  • reduce emissions of biogenic methane to 24–47 per cent below 2017 levels by 2050, including to 10 per cent below 2017 levels by 2030
• establish a system of emissions budgets to act as stepping stones towards the long-term target
• require the Government to develop and implement policies for climate change adaptation and mitigation
• establish a new, independent Climate Change Commission to provide expert advice and monitoring to help keep successive governments on track to meeting long-term goals. See the Climate Change Commission website.

The original proposal was for a separate piece of legislation called the Zero Carbon Bill to be passed into law. In May 2019, the Government decided to introduce it as an amendment to the Climate Change Response Act 2002. The objective was to ensure that all key climate legislation is within one Act.

There will be a transitional period to 2021 to get the new provisions up and running.

• The Ministry for the Environment:
  • has already begun work on the first National Climate Change Risk Assessment. Future Risk Assessments will be carried out by the Climate Change Commission.
  • is also developing a provisional emissions budget for 2021–2025. This will provide an early sense of direction before the first three emissions budgets (for the emissions budget periods 2022–2025, 2026–2030 and 2031–2035) are recommended by the Climate Change Commission in early 2021, and set by the Government by the end of 2021.
• The NZ ETS will be an important tool in delivering emissions reductions and helping New Zealand achieve its emissions budgets and 2050 target. The provisional emissions budget for 2021–2025 will be used to inform the unit supply settings.

National Party said that while it welcomed the proposed amendments, they had “serious reservations about the expected rate of reduction for methane”. Simon Bridges said: “We are not convinced that the proposed 24-47% reduction for methane meets our test in terms of science, economic impact or global response.”

Greenpeace – The bill was also criticised by Greenpeace for having no way of enforcing its targets.

Forest & Bird was “disappointed” at what it saw as special treatment for agriculture.

Beef and Lamb New Zealand said the methane approach made unfair demands on farmers. “It’s unreasonable to ask farmers to be cooling the climate, as the government’s proposed targets would do, without expecting the rest of the economy to also do the same,” said a spokesperson.

“Beef + Lamb New Zealand is calling for a fair approach, where each gas is reduced based on its warming impact. An equitable approach requires carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide to go to net zero, and methane to be reduced and stabilised by between 10-22%.”