Climate change bungle tops $2 billion

The admission from Labour that New Zealand's Kyoto obligations have deteriorated from a $1.1 billion surplus in 2002, to a $967 million deficit now, confirms the extent of the failure of Labour's climate change policies, says National's Climate Change spokesman, Nick Smith.

Climate Change Minister David Parker confirmed the figures today.

"This $2 billion error exposes the huge gulf between Helen Clark's rhetoric and record. She has presided over record increases in emissions and an unprecedented chainsaw massacre of our forests, making a mockery of her carbon neutral pledge.

"The figures are bad enough, but even more worrying is the extent to which the situation is deteriorating. The past year has seen the Kyoto deficit grow by a record $407 million - ironically in the very year that Labour made sustainability its core focus.

"The failure of the Government's climate change policies is that it is all rhetoric and strategies, rather than practical measures that will actually reduce emissions.

"New Zealanders are owed an explanation as to why Labour got it wrong by $2 billion - and why, after nine years in office, emissions are growing at record rates."