In her campaign launch speech in Auckland on Sunday, Ms Ardern called climate change "my generation's nuclear free moment".Climate emergency declaration by New Zealand government includes commitment to 2025 targets, RNZ, 2 December 2020:[...]
"There will always be those who say it's too difficult. There will be those who say we are too small, and that pollution and climate change are the price of progress," Ms Ardern said.
"They are wrong."
She says New Zealand has an opportunity to shape its identity by making the transition to reduced emissions.
"This is my generation's nuclear-free moment, and I am determined that we will tackle it head on."
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has committed the government and the public sector to going carbon-neutral by 2025, as she declared a climate emergency.Climate emergency declaration will be matched with long-term action, James Shaw, 2 December 2020:Ardern has moved a motion in Parliament this afternoon which would see New Zealand join 32 other nations in formally acknowledging the global crisis.
The motion was passed shortly before 4pm, with Labour, the Greens and te Pāti Māori all voting in support, and National and ACT opposed.
Today’s climate emergency declaration will be backed with ambitious plans to reduce emissions, the Minister for Climate Change, James Shaw today.Government’s climate plan delayed five months, Newsroom, 15 September 2021:“Our Government has put New Zealand at the forefront of climate action over the last three years. Declaring a climate emergency and backing this with long-term action to reduce emissions shows that we intend to stay there,” James Shaw said.
Next year, the Government will agree the first three emissions budgets required under the Zero Carbon Act, publish an emissions reduction plan to meet these budgets, consider updating New Zealand’s target under the Paris Agreement, and adopt a plan to meet our international obligations for the period 2021-2030.
Work on each of these is already underway.
The Government's plan to tackle the climate crisis has been pushed back five months due to the Covid-19 pandemic and to align it with next year's budget, Climate Change Minister James Shaw announced on Wednesday.Urgent? Ambitious? An emergency? A nuclear-free moment? You be the judge. Meanwhile, you might want to throw some money at Extinction Rebellion, 350, Greenpeace, Generation Zero, Lawyers for Climate Action, or any of the other groups who are campaigning on this, to help them oppose it.The Zero Carbon Act currently requires the Government to release its Emissions Reduction Plan by the end of the year, but Shaw said the Government would move the deadline back to May 2022.