Don't flush our climate down the John

Wellington December 9 2008 - Greenpeace deposited over 30 porcelain toilets on parliament grounds with a globe inside each one and the message: "don't flush our climate down the John".

The activity coincides with Parliament's Speech from the Throne and the 9th day of UN climate talks in Poznan, Poland. Members of the public have been invited to come to the toilet display to have pictures taken that will then be sent to the UN climate talks and shown to delegates from New Zealand and all other countries in attendance.

"Prime Minister John Key must start taking the threat of climate change seriously, and instruct our delegation in Poznan to do the same," said Greenpeace Senior Climate Campaigner Simon Boxer.

"So far we've seen our representatives pleading special treatment and trying to weasel out of international obligations. It's embarrassing for New Zealand, economically dangerous in the long term and bad news for the climate.

The Poznan talks are the half mark in two years of intense UN negotiations, which will culminate in Copenhagen in December 2009. "If a deal is not reached at Copenhagen, future generations will have political leaders like John Key to blame for runaway climate change," said Boxer.

"A clear work plan needs to be borne out of Poznan if a deal is to be reached in Copenhagen. New Zealand must agree to adopt binding emission reduction targets at the Poznan meeting." (1)

"Thanks to National's dismantling of New Zealand climate policy and our past behaviour at these talks (2), our reputation is in tatters. Thanks to John Key's climate backtrack New Zealand's clean, green image is now looking dirty under the rim.

It is up to John Key to save New Zealand's credibility, currently we're at risk of becoming an international climate pariah, with potential impacts for exports from a global consumer backlash."

ENDS

For a full media briefing on Poznan, go to: http://www.greenpeace.org.nz/poznan

(1) The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has specified that developed countries like New Zealand need to be signing up to binding emissions reductions of between 25-40% by 2020 (on 1990 levels) and an overall emissions reduction target for developed (Annex 1) countries for the period 2013 - 2017 that is consistent with achieving the above reductions by 2020

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