24 November 2015

No John Key, science alone won’t save us, action will

The Green Party is challenging the Government to release the evidence that backs up the Prime Ministers’ claim that agricultural greenhouse gas emissions will be solved in 3 to 4 years.

This morning John Key said his scientists had advised him “we’ll have a solution to agricultural emissions in 3 – 4 years”, which might come as news to some of the scientists working at the cutting edge of agricultural emissions research.

“John Key’s ‘science will save us’ approach to climate change is a convenient excuse for doing nothing, and just shifts the burden of climate change on to the next Government,“ Green Party Science and Innovation spokesperson Gareth Hughes said.

"In reality, John Key is jumping the gun on research that is still in the testing stage. While there is some research showing promising results from efforts to reduce agricultural emissions, any potential products are a long way off being ready for market, and are yet to be proven safe, or even effective in the long term.

“It would be naïve in the extreme to suggest that science is going to solve New Zealand’s urgent greenhouse gas emissions problem on its own.

"It's important to invest in scientific research but not as an excuse for inaction as it has been under National.

“The world can’t wait for a scientific breakthrough to solve climate change. The damage is happening now.

“New Zealand is one of the countries dragging its heels when it comes to doing its fair share on the climate, and has taken an emissions reduction target described as ‘inadequate’, to the climate conference in Paris next week.

“We don't need to hope and wait for a technological silver bullet when we have affordable ways to reduce emissions right now.

“The Green Party has shown how we can take a respectable 40 percent target to Paris next week, by moving to a 100 per cent renewable energy sector, reducing emissions from waste, and putting a proper price on carbon that will encourage more carbon capture from trees, and disincentivise polluting industries,” Mr Hughes said.

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