Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern responds to Greta Thunberg’s criticism of climate change

The Prime Minister responded to Greta Thunberg’s criticism of the Government by noting that more has been done in New Zealand’s climate change space than the teenage activist might realize.

But Jacinda Ardern said she was “not passing judgment” on Thunberg’s criticism and said it was a “good thing” that people like her continue to urge action against climate change.

His comments come just hours after Thunberg attacked the government’s climate change record on Twitter.

She retweeted a story from the newsroom, criticizing the government’s rhetoric versus its response when it comes to climate change.

“In other words, the government just committed to reducing less than 1 percent of the country’s emissions by 2025,” Thunberg said in the tweet.

He also cited the “so-called climate emergency declaration,” which was approved in the House earlier this month.

Although he hadn’t actually seen the tweet, Ardern said it had been described as a “reference to our 2025 carbon neutral public service goal.”

That goal was announced last week, after she filed a motion to declare a climate change emergency in Parliament.

“If that was the highest ambition of any government, then it would be worthy of criticism,” Ardern said of the tweet.

“It’s not all of our plans on climate change. But then again, I think it’s really up to us to get on with the business of meeting our obligations and expectations.”

When asked if that meant Thunberg should have done a little more research before his tweet, Ardern said no: “I am not passing judgment.”

“But I still think it’s just a good thing [that] there are people who continue to drive ambition into action. “

When asked about the tweet, Climate Change Minister James Shaw said that Thunberg was essentially pointing out what the government already knows.

“That we have a long way to go to reduce the gap between our emissions now and what they should be in the future.”

He said an emergency declaration related to climate change indicates the government’s intention to do everything possible to address the climate crisis.