The Government has passed legislation to remove agriculture from the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) while Aotearoa’s reputation on climate action plummets.

“While our Climate Minister is on the other side of the world telling the UN climate conference about the need to act, at home, his Government is ramming through law to delay and deny that very action,” says Green Party Co-Leader and spokesperson for Climate Change, Chlöe Swarbrick, who is currently attending COP29.

“The world isn’t stupid - and that’s why this Government’s choices are seeing us slip down the ranks.

“The Climate Change Performance Index points out the 2023 change of government and its policy decisions are why New Zealand is tumbling down the global climate rankings. Whether it’s the repeal of the oil and gas ban or kicking the can down the road on agricultural emissions, Luxon’s Government is denying science and leadership.

“This is a national embarrassment, global disgrace and existential threat.

“The Government can’t farm its responsibility out to unproven technology - unicorn kisses, as one of their own Ministers likes to talk about - and ‘the market’, which their own advice says will cost lowest income New Zealanders four times as much as the wealthiest.

“This fight is no longer about a faraway future, but our world today. The good news is New Zealanders are refusing to have the wool pulled over their eyes on this Government’s regressive agenda and are connecting the dots.

“Climate justice is Te Tiriti justice is economic justice.

“We can have meaningful action that reduces emissions and the cost of living while improving all of our lives.

“Christopher Luxon’s Government is relying on people’s exhaustion and disenfranchisement - and as the mobilising in the last week is proving, New Zealanders are starting to roundly reject that strategy,” says Chlöe Swarbrick.

NOTES:

• New Zealand dropped seven places to 41st in the latest Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI), announced today at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. As a result, New Zealand now sits in the "low" performance category, a substantial fall from the previous "medium" ranking.
• The CCPI evaluates 63 nations based on emissions, renewable energy deployment, energy use, and climate policy.

© Scoop Media