Impact guidelines drive home urgency of climate change

New projections of future climate change in New Zealand are a timely reminder of the urgency of strong climate policy, says Greenpeace. 

A guidance manual released today by the Ministry for the Environment provides the latest projections of likely impacts of climate change on New Zealand, and advice for councils on tackling the effects.

“It’s easy to think of climate change as a distant, remote issue, but it’s not,” said Greenpeace Climate Campaigner Simon Boxer. “We’re already seeing effects in New Zealand, such as this year’s drought which set dairy farmers back half a billion dollars. These impacts will only get worse.

“The new projections remind us that climate change will have major consequences not just around the world, but right on our doorstep and we need to get on with tackling the problem.”

Mr Boxer said the select committee currently considering proposed emissions trading legislation should take note of predictions of an increased frequency and intensity of risks and hazards due to climate change.

“Rising temperatures, continued melting of glaciers, heavier and more frequent rainfall, decreased average snow cover, a wetter West and a drier East; this is just some of what’s in store for New Zealand.

“The National Party can say what it likes about delaying the scheme, but it’s the only thing on the table right now to tackle climate change in this country, and it needs to proceed with urgency. The time to act is now.

“It’s worth noting that Sue Powell, general manager of the Ministry’s Local Government Group, says taking account of climate change now is likely to be cheaper in the long-run.

“This aligns with the conclusions of the Stern Review into the economics of climate change, which shows that taking action now will cost up to twenty times less than delaying action.

“This is as much about opportunity as it is about risk.”

Greenpeace is calling for the emissions trading scheme to be strengthened. “The scheme needs to be coupled with an overall domestic emissions reduction target (30 per cent by 2020), pollution credits must be auctioned rather than gifted, and agriculture must be brought into the scheme earlier than 2013,” said Mr Boxer.