Today, community group Climate Justice Taranaki made a formal bid on the 2,188 km² of onshore Taranaki land made available for oil and gas drilling by the government through the block offer 2018.

“On behalf of our group, future generations and the 2400 people who signed our petition, Climate Justice Taranaki is not bidding in the 2018 block offer to destroy the land. We are bidding in defense of the climate” says Urs Signer, a member of Climate Justice Taranaki.

“We all know, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is very clear, that we need radical change now to prevent climate chaos. This is an emergency and we have to act accordingly. The last thing we should be doing now is to look for more fossil fuels. We are calling on Jacinda Ardern and Megan Woods to do the right thing for future generations and rescind the 2018 Petroleum Block Offer in onshore Taranaki.”

While the government has put an end to future offshore drilling, they have opened up 2,188 km² of Taranaki land to oil companies.

“Handing out permits for more fossil fuel exploration while the planet is melting can only be described as ecocide and crime against humanity. Fossil fuel companies have known of their impacts on climate and ocean chemistry for many decades, and have acted to increase their biosphere-destroying activities.”

“We are reading reports about the collapse of the glaciers in Greenland and the collapse of the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica. The melting of the ice will lead to sea-level rise of several meters. Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere keep rising due to increasing emissions despite politicians saying that climate change is a priority. If we are to take climate change seriously – and we owe it to our children – then we need to stop drilling for more oil and gas or digging up more coal now. Handing out permits to oil companies now is like handing out death certificates to our children” concludes Urs Signer.

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