James Shaw responds after Greta Thunberg criticizes New Zealand for lack of action on climate change

Greta Thunberg has targeted New Zealand for what she saw as the government’s lack of action on climate change.

In early December, Parliament officially declared a climate emergency in New Zealand, a move Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called “recognition of the next generation.”

It was a “science-based statement,” Ardern told MPs on December 2.

But the response upset environmental activist Thunberg, and the 17-year-old commented in an opinion piece that he described the statement as a mark of virtue with little substance.

She tweeted a line from the Newsroom comment, which read: “In other words, the government just committed to reducing less than 1 percent of the country’s emissions by 2025.

He then added his own response, saying that New Zealand’s lack of response “is not unique to any one nation.”

“Text explaining New Zealand’s so-called climate emergency declaration. Of course, this is nothing unique to any one nation. # FightFor1Point5.”

Climate Change Minister James Shaw has since responded to Thunberg’s excavation, saying that he is only pointing to what we already know and agreeing that the statement is only a starting point for New Zealand’s climate response.

“Greta Thunberg is essentially signaling what we already know: that we have a long way to go to narrow the gap between our emissions right now and what they should be in the future.

“We are working on this as fast as we can and the declaration of a climate emergency is really helping, because now every part of the government is clear that action to reduce emissions is a priority.”

“This is what the climate emergency declaration should do. It is not an end in itself, but indicates our intention to do everything possible to address the climate crisis and build a better and safer future for our children and grandchildren.” .

“Over the next 12 months, we will agree on the first three emissions budgets required by 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 obligations for the 2021-2030 period.

“Work is underway on each of these and together they will ensure that we are playing our role in cutting global emissions in half by 2030.”

In the commentary article for Newsroom, Marc Daalder argues that “the declaration of a climate emergency is only a sign of virtue if it is not backed up by immediate and radical action to reduce emissions.”

He goes on to say that “the government has just committed to reducing less than 1 percent of the country’s emissions by 2025.”

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recommends that countries reduce emissions to 45% below 2010 levels by 2030.

New Zealand’s net emissions will be just 6% below 2010 levels according to projections from the Ministry of the Environment.

During the announcement of the statement, Ardern mentioned a set of new measures in an attempt to curb climate change.

The government now requires all its agencies and ministries to exclusively purchase electric vehicles and will require that all public sector buildings meet a “green standard.”

This is part of the government’s goal of making the entire public sector carbon neutral by 2025.

“It is up to us to make sure we demonstrate a plan of action and a reason for hope,” said Ardern, who was the one who introduced the motion in the House.

She had previously said that simply declaring a climate emergency alone was not enough and needed to be backed up with substance.

That was a sentiment shared by National, whose climate change spokesman Stuart Smith told MPs that Ardern’s motion was “nothing more than a mark of virtue.”

But Ardern argued that the policies announced by the government today showed that the motion was not just empty words.

“At the global level, we have entered an era of action,” he said, before asking parliamentarians to get “on the right side of history.”

New Zealand is the 33rd country in the world to declare a climate change emergency; joins countries like the UK and Ireland.

“It is up to us to make sure we demonstrate a plan of action and a reason for hope,” Ardern said.

One of the ways it plans to do this is through the Government’s new electric vehicle mandate.

It’s a lofty goal: there are currently almost 16,000 vehicles in the government fleet.

The Government will draw on its $ 200 million State Sector Decarbonization Fund to achieve this.

That money will also help pay for another goal: phase out coal-fired boilers in your ministries and agencies.

There are approximately 200 coal-fired boilers that currently heat water and buildings in the state sector; the largest and most active will be removed first.

National Congresswoman Nicola Willis said she had no doubts: “Climate change is the greatest environmental challenge of our time.”

He said National agreed with the global mission of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

But he said it was unclear how declaring a climate change emergency would cut global emissions.

“My suspicion,” he said in the House, “is that the Government intends this motion to distract New Zealanders from their incredibly poor record on climate change.”

Climate Change Minister James Shaw has been contacted for comment.