Leading climate scientists back student’s case against the govt

Renowned former Nasa climate scientist, James Hansen, and Victoria University Professor, James Renwick, are supporting Sarah Thomson in her legal battle against the government.

Thomson is suing the Climate Change Minister, Tim Groser, over his “irrational” emissions reduction targets. Under scrutiny is the Minister’s failure to review New Zealand’s existing target, and the “non-binding” proposal that the government will table at the climate conference in Paris next week.

Both Hansen and Renwick will give expert evidence that New Zealand’s targets are inadequate to avoid dangerous and irreversible climate change.

Hansen is one of the world’s leading scientists on climate change. His research established that a temperature rise of 2°C above preindustrial levels (the threshold used in international negotiations) will have irreversible consequences for the climate.

Hansen says that the present level of CO in the atmosphere and its warming is already in the dangerous zone.

“We are now in a period of overshoot, with early consequences that are already highly threatening and that will rise to unbearable unless action is taken without delay to restore energy balance at a lower atmostpheric CO amount”.

“If CO emissions continue at a high rate, then multi-meter sea level rise will become practically unavoidable, with consequences that ultimately may threaten the very fabric of civilization,” Hansen’s evidence states.

Hansen says that even if New Zealand’s Paris target was “achieved through actual reductions (and not merely through paper accounting gimmicks), the intention is insufficiently ambitious”.

Both scientists note that New Zealand’s current plan is to actually increase CO emissions but offset it on paper by trading carbon credits. Renwick points out that “this does nothing to reduce the atmospheric burden of CO and other greenhouse gases”.

“New Zealand’s emissions trajectory instead continues to be upward, and is projected to increase,” says Renwick.

Hansen says that urgent national and international action is needed to constrain carbon pollution.

“We will not preserve a habitable climate system unless developed nations act without further delay, both to phase out their own carbon emissions and to aid the balance of nations in the development of their own carbon and energy sources. It is critical that New Zealand be brought to do its part.”

Thomson says she is grateful to Hansen and Renwick for supporting her case, and sees it as a sign of just how important and urgent doing something about climate change really is.

“The fact that the world’s leading climate scientist has taken time out of an incredibly busy schedule to give evidence illustrates just how much New Zealand’s inadequate response to climate change is being noticed internationally.” Thomson says.

http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/1511/Affidavit_of_James_Hansen.pdf

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