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After Labor’s decisive election victory on Saturday, James Shaw’s days as climate change minister may be numbered.
Shaw was appointed to the post in 2017 as part of the Greens’ deal with the coalition government, although he was not a member of the cabinet. Although the Greens are expected to bring two more MPs to Parliament, the Labor majority means that Shaw’s party will be in a weaker negotiating position this time, if they want to stay in government. And even with an arrangement, a Labor MP could be appointed as Shaw’s successor.
During his three-year tenure as minister, Shaw drafted and passed the Zero Carbon Act, reformed and strengthened the emissions trading scheme, allocated $ 200 million for public institutions to move away from coal and natural gas, and outlined plans to require financial organizations disclosing their climate risks. . Its Zero Carbon Law also created the independent Climate Change Commission to advise Cabinet on climate action.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said she hopes to form a government in the next two to three weeks. Ministerial portfolios will be announced as part of this process.
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Environmental Defense Society President Gary Taylor said Shaw did a very good job as a minister. “Obviously he would be a top contender in his own right.”
The relationship between Labor and the Greens is the broader political question to be answered in the coming weeks, Taylor said. If the parties reached an agreement, Shaw would be “the first taxi to go out of range in terms of a green minister,” he added.
Given Labor’s emphasis on renewable electricity, the minister of energy, currently Megan Woods, is another potential candidate for the portfolio, Taylor said. Environment Minister David Parker, who served as Helen Clark’s government portfolio, is a third.
This period’s environment minister will reform the Resource Management Law, a task “bigger than Ben-Hur,” Taylor added. “However, you would have to say [David Parker] it has the capacity to do other things as well. During the last term, he oversaw the rather complicated and challenging freshwater reforms and at the same time was Minister of Commerce and Associate Minister of Finance. “
The tax and financial background of Labor MP Deborah Russell could be an asset in the job, Taylor said. “Climate change policy has a lot to do with financial instruments and the management of the economic transition.”
A climate change minister must be able to build consensus, as climate change policy must endure when the government changes, Taylor said. “It is interesting and complicated. In a way, we have a lot of good candidates. “
Hannah Peters / Getty Images
As Minister of Climate Change, James Shaw passed the Zero Carbon Law and reformed the emissions trading scheme. Will he return for a second term?
Greenpeace climate activist Amanda Larsson said the fate of the paper was “anyone’s guess”, but that an agreement between Labor and the Greens would ensure consistency.
After the coalition government introduced laws that set out how the country would achieve carbon neutrality in the last period, the new government will have to introduce the policies to get us there, he said.
The minister will require “a strong personality who can do things in the face of criticism,” he added.
“Facing climate change necessarily means altering the status quo. We’ve seen Megan Woods really take a chance on the oil and gas ban, which was a climate decision. He faced a lot of backlash from the industry and even within his own department, but he stood his ground. I think New Zealanders have also rewarded Labor for that decision. Likewise, David Parker really got stuck on the nitrogen limit in freshwater regulations, that the industry didn’t want a bar. “
Sam Scannell / Stuff
In 2019, the Government partnered with farmers to develop a plan to measure and price emissions on farms.
In 2022, the recommended plan to reduce agricultural gases developed by the He Waka Eke Noa partnership with the agricultural industry will be presented to the new Government.
But it is not the only regulation that affects farmers, who will also have to adapt to the reforms of the Resource Management, Biodiversity and Freshwater Act, said DairyNZ President Jim van der Poel.
“We need government ministers to understand the impact of the set of regulations on the agricultural sector and how they interact,” he said. “We need ministers, and their departments, to work closely and with us as well, whether that means a joint portfolio or otherwise.”
The organization has a constructive and positive working relationship with Shaw, van der Poel said. “We appreciate your willingness to engage with the agricultural sector and hear our perspectives on climate policy. We look forward to continuing to have a strong and effective working relationship with all the ministers in the next government. “
Former Climate Change Minister and National Congressman Nick Smith said the ministerial position had always been important.
“My experience in the Cabinet room is that the energy, commitment and capacity of the minister are far more important than the number in his seat. But I would be disappointed if the climate change minister was not in the cabinet room, “he said. “The challenge in this legislature is going to be, not to stabilize emissions, but actually to bend that curve.”
Smith did not believe that the establishment of the commission reduced the minister’s position. However, he agreed that a minister’s other portfolios are an important factor. For example, when the Key government wanted to help establish an international agreement to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, which would become the Paris Agreement, it turned the portfolio over to Commerce Minister Tim Groser.
The minister needs the support of senior government officials, he said. When Smith wanted to implement the emissions trading scheme despite public opposition, “Prime Minister John Key and Finance Minister Bill English backed me and that was the only way the scheme would start and progress.”
“It is the most scientifically complex issue of any portfolio, and I have done 14 different jobs as a minister. It becomes more difficult because it is a global problem. “
Shaw’s office did not respond to questions.
