Climate Change action: How NZ's 'insufficient' targets stack up against other countries
New Zealand is among the many nations that have pledged to limit global warming increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius in the future. So far, the Government has made strides in the right direction: in May it announced its flagship climate change policy which aims to slash emissions by 2050. But on a global scale - are we doing enough? According to Climate Action Tracker , we're not. It ranked New Zealand as having "insufficient" targets that must be improved. READ MORE: * Why you should take action on climate change * Landmark climate change bill goes to Parliament * Zero Carbon Bill: Who supports it and who doesn't * Climate change bill's emissions target 20 years too late * Details of how the Govt will fight climate change to finally be revealed Climate Action Tracker is an independent scientific analysis produced by three research organisations. It evaluates the effects of current government policies on emissions. It also provides regular reports on the progress of global climate action. Its latest June update evaluated the progress of 24 countries, and found progress was stalling. The latest data shows global emissions are growing, fossil fuels are expanding, natural gas is booming, and the installation of renewable energy is slowing. "2018 saw energy-related emissions reach yet another historic high after significant net greenhouse gas increases, 85 per cent of which came from the US, India and China. Coal reversed its recent decline and was responsible for over a third of CO2 emissions. "In previous assessments, the Climate Action Tracker has identified that the vast majority of countries have targets that are woefully inadequate and, collectively, have no chance of meeting the 1.5C temperature goal of the Paris Agreement. "This is a call for governments all over to step up their game." HOW DOES NZ COMPARE? New Zealand is one of the many countries which has agreed on the Paris Accord rules - universal, transparent rules that govern efforts to cut emissions and curb global warming. Yet the Climate Action Tracker's ratings system considered New Zealand's emissions targets to be in the "insufficient" orange area. But we're not alone - Australia, Canada, Norway, Switzerland and Peru sit alongside us. The insufficient range means that we are not seen as being "consistent with holding warming below 2C let alone with the Paris Agreement's stronger 1.5C limit". The ranking system states that if all government targets were in this range, then warming would reach over 2C and up to 3C. The countries considered to be in the red "highly insufficient" range include; Argentina, China, Japan, Singapore and South Africa. While the USA, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Ukraine have been denounced as having "critically insufficient" targets. The only two countries considered as having targets compatible with the 1.5C Paris rules are Morocco and The Gambia. WHY THE TARGETS ARE 'INSUFFICIENT' The Zero Carbon Bill means NZ governments will be mandated to reduce biological methane by at least 10 per cent by 2030, and between 24 and 47 per cent by 2050. All other emissions would be reduced to "net zero" by 2050 to limit global warming increases to 1.5C. An independent Climate Change Commission will be set up to advise the Government on targets. The Bill is currently being considered by the Environment Select Committee. Public consultation is open until July 16. The Climate Action Tracker website states that while the introduction of the Bill "is a significant step forward", excluding a substantial share of emissions from the net zero goal lowered its ambition. It said that previous analysis has found that a net zero target for all domestic GHG emissions in 2050 could be consistent with the Paris Agreement. "The Bill does not introduce any policies to actually cut emissions: New Zealand has very few policies to implement this bill," it said. The Climate Action Tracker's ratings are based on climate commitments. "If the CAT were to rate New Zealand's projected emissions levels under current policies, we would rate New Zealand "Highly Insufficient," indicating that New Zealand's current policies are not consistent with holding warming to below 2C, let alone limiting it to 1.5C as required under the Paris Agreement, and are instead consistent with warming between 3C and 4C. "If all countries were to follow New Zealand's approach, warming could reach over 3C and up to 4C. This means New Zealand's current policies are not in line with any interpretation of a "fair" approach to the former 2C goal, let alone the Paris Agreement's 1.5C limit." 'BOLD ACTION NEEDED' Climate Action Tracker is calling for governments to strengthen their Paris targets, and says the urgency of the climate crisis demands bold and immediate action. It says governments will have an opportunity to update their targets in 2020. "Up to 80 [governments] may announce new targets later this year at the UN Secretary General's Summit in September. A number of countries are beginning to discuss net zero targets, mostly by the year 2050, but most governments are nowhere near taking the radical steps required, especially given that global emissions need to halve by 2030 in order to keep the goal of 1.5C alive." *Climate Action Tracker (CAT) is an independent scientific analysis produced by three research organisations tracking climate action since 2009. It tracks the progress of climate action of about 32 countries.