Meka Whaitiri: Taking action on climate change
Meka Whaitiri Climate change is the biggest environmental challenge of our time. As Jacinda Ardern said during last year's election campaign, it's her generation's "nuclear-free moment". With wild weather patterns and rising sea levels, the effects of a changing climate are being felt right across New Zealand. Hawke's Bay is one of New Zealand's front lines of climate change. The beach communities up and down the coast are feeling the effects of accelerated erosion and rising sea levels. Those sea level rises are predicted to reach 1.3m by the year 2100. Four years ago international coastal expert Professor Paul Komar warned the communities of the Bay that climate change "would mean that there would be more waves overtopping the beach crest and inundating land close to the coast". How many of us have already watched in horror as houses have been destroyed and abandoned in places like Te Awanga. Even a metre of sea level rise will increase the dangers of the gravel beach eroding as far as Westshore. Together, we all have a huge responsibility to respond to climate threats and to take action. That's why this Government is pursuing two ambitious goals to address our greenhouse gas emissions. The first is for New Zealand to be carbon neutral by 2050. To achieve this, we'll establish an independent Climate Commission to help us set limits on how much carbon we can put into the atmosphere, through emissions reduction targets and carbon budgets. The second goal is to have 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2035. New Zealand's renewable energy resources hydro, wind, geothermal and solar mean we are ideally placed to expand our provision of affordable, sustainable energy. Moving to a low-carbon economy and to renewable electricity won't be easy it will take time. We'll need to support new research and development, and we'll need to bring every sector in the country with us. Everyone has a stake in making this transition succeed. A Ministry for the Environment report from last year has made the point that climate change may have already had an irreversible impact on New Zealand. This gloomy report says the effects on our environment are only likely to worsen. The report makes other predictions for Hawke's Bay such as a fall in our winter rainfall of 10 per cent by the year 2090 and an increase in tropical cyclones. The "Our Climate and Atmosphere" report also revealed the country's glaciers had lost nearly a quarter of their ice since 1977, and that sea levels had risen between 14 and 22cm at our main ports since 1916. Temperatures have already risen by 1C in New Zealand and this would have an impact on everything from the economy to biodiversity and health. Last month a 45,000-signature petition called on the Government to end oil exploration. When Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern personally received the petition, she assured petitioners the Government was actively considering the future of oil and gas exploration. She acknowledged that New Zealand's recent record of a 64 per cent increase in net greenhouse gas emissions since 1990 simply could not continue. She also acknowledged New Zealand's significant petroleum production industry, and the need to protect the jobs of current workers. This Government is doing its bit, on behalf of Kiwis. Our Provincial Growth Fund and Green Investment Fund will both invest billions of dollars in local infrastructure and clean energy projects, bringing new jobs to many of the areas where the fossil fuel industry is currently based. We are listening to New Zealanders who understand the serious threat climate change poses. Kiwis know that dirty growth is unsustainable growth; we know that agricultural emissions can be reduced; we know we can do better to play our part in the world. The Government's climate action plan is ambitious. We're proud of that ambition. We're proud because protecting the world for future generations to enjoy is one of the most important things we can do. * Meka Whaitiri is MP for Ikaroa Rawhiti Judge: Eye surgeon could have stopped practising but chose to try to bend the rules.