Govt abandons NZ's climate credibility with shameful methane bill - Greenpeace

"Utterly shameful". That's Greenpeace Aotearoa's response to the Government's new methane targets following the first reading of the Climate Change Response Act (2050 Target and Other Matters) Amendment Bill today in Parliament.

Greenpeace Aotearoa climate spokesperson Rhiannon Mackie says, "This is a Government for polluters, by polluters. The only people who benefit from this legislation are the intensive dairy industry executives who'll get to continue lining their pockets by profiting from climate pollution.

"Everyday New Zealanders - including farmers - are already experiencing the impacts of catastrophic climate change, and it will get worse without urgent action to cut methane emissions from intensive livestock production now."

The legislation will be passed under urgency, meaning the public will not get to have a say on this decision. On Tuesday, it was revealed that advice from the Ministry for the Environment recommended not adopting these targets.

"It's clear that Luxon has abandoned New Zealand's climate credibility, and is engaging in straight-up climate denial. Even the Government's own advisors recommended against this approach, but Luxon is ignoring that advice and instead doing the bidding of the agribusiness industry - as he has since day one as Prime Minister," says Mackie.

The proposed targets have sparked international condemnation, with the European Union Trade Commission recently committing to investigating a potential breach of the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement, and New Zealand being awarded the 'Fossil of the Day' award at the latest UN climate conference. In June, international climate scientists wrote to Luxon, calling on him to avoid setting targets based on the concept of 'no additional warming'.

Mackie says, "Everyone from renowned climate scientists to our trading partners in Europe and the Ministry for the Environment here in Aotearoa are saying that this move is out of step, not only with climate science, but also with the actions of other countries with similar emissions footprints."

The bill also bakes in the controversial and fundamentally flawed concept of 'no additional warming' into climate legislation, requiring future Governments to consider this when reviewing methane targets in 2040. This approach has been rejected by the scientific community around the world.

"No additional warming is this Government's attempt to wave a magic wand and disappear all of our historic methane emissions - but sweeping climate pollution under the rug doesn't solve the climate crisis," says Mackie.

"New Zealand has just sparked a global race to the bottom, where other major livestock-producing countries will now see it as acceptable to avoid action on climate change by adopting 'no additional warming'.

"Methane is our climate emergency brake. If we reduce methane emissions from intensive livestock farming rapidly, we can prevent the worst of the climate crisis. But instead, Luxon and his Government have chosen to let polluters write the policy and caved to the demands of industry lobby group Federated Farmers.

"New Zealanders want to see urgent climate action that protects our lives and livelihoods. Future generations are depending on us to do the right thing. If this Government insists on carrying on their war on nature, they should expect resistance."