Its small, and the government is blaming the weather (2017 was not a good hydro year), but it is still not good news. We are going in the wrong direction. The ETS has done nothing: since its passage in 2008, we have made no progress whatsoever (and in fact our net emissions - pollution minus trees - have risen, because carbon prices are not yet high enough to stop people cutting down trees for dairy conversions). And since National set the "50% by 2050" target in 2011, we've gone backwards.
The gun control bill passed yesterday shows how quickly our government can act when it recognises we have a crisis. Well, we have a fucking climate crisis, and it is only going to get worse. It is time the government gave it similar attention, and began a crash policy of decarbonisation, before it is too late. Unfortunately, with its carefully chosen international comparisons designed to minimise just how shit we really are, and its apparent commitment to continue using fraudulent CP1 "credits" to "meet" our 2020 commitments (not to mention its business-as-usual approach to oil drilling), it is apparent that all the government is interested in is spin. And they'll keep on spinning while your kids drown.