As parliament voted all but unanimously to pass the Zero Carbon Bill into law last week, climate change minister James Shaw credited Generation Zero for its very existence. Here, Jenny Coatham explains how the youth-led climate action group pulled off such a monumental task. Our generation has been described as having “climate anxiety” – a … Read more
With the release of the Zero Carbon Bill, Flick CEO Steve O’Connor worries that our zero carbon ambitions will be impeded by an electricity market that’s not working as it should. Right now, we’re sandwiched between two pieces of policy work that have the potential to shape fundamental outcomes in the electricity industry: the recently-announced … Read more
Zoe Mills is a 17 year old high school student and one of thousands who joined the global climate strikes. She explains why her generation feel this moment so acutely. It’s an eerie sight. A sea of bodies lay across the worn concrete of the Queen Street intersection. A faint murmuring grows in an impassioned roar: “Wake up! … Read more
Aotearoa finally heard the announcement about the Zero Carbon Bill earlier this week. Maulik Thakkar of climate action organisation Generation Zero explains how the time to begin reducing our emissions is now, rather than settling for a slow reduction in emissions over the coming decades. We have repeated it again and again, like a mantra: “The … Read more
Greenpeace hate it. So do farmers’ groups. But James Shaw is determined that the Zero Carbon Bill forges a fair path to a net-zero future. Toby Manhire sits down in a parliamentary corridor with the climate change minister to discuss the bill, and why he’s been bending over backwards to win National’s support. For James … Read more
This is the perfect time to announce a future ban on sales of fossil fuel cars, argues former National Party cabinet minister Wayne Mapp. Now that we have got past the CGT shemozzle, we can get back to the serious policy that the prime minister says is the existential crisis of our times, climate change. … Read more
A cornerstone of the Labour-Green post-election deal, the legislation will enshrine net zero emissions by 2050, with an independent Climate Change Commission installed. Methane gases, primarily emitted by agriculture in NZ, will need to reduce by 10% by 2030 under the bill. Read the Spinoff interview with climate change minister James Shaw here. Almost a … Read more
Submissions to the Zero Carbon Bill close on Thursday July 19. Laura Somerset, a Wellington-based convener of Generation Zero, looks back on the early days of the climate action movement. At 16, I unwittingly became a climate activist because I wanted to skip English class. The year was 2016. Selfie sticks were emerging and global … Read more
Kevin Hague of Forest & Bird is giving the Climate Leaders Coalition the benefit of the doubt on greenwashing. But he has a message for all businesses: we’re watching you. Watching the heads of 60 of the country’s largest companies promise to take action on climate change last week gives me hope that we might … Read more
From tax incentives to cash grants, ‘price signals’ are the key to increasing the uptake of electric vehicles in New Zealand, writes Victoria University’s Lisa Marriott. On Friday 13 July, Climate Change Minister James Shaw stated that in order for New Zealand to meet its zero carbon pledge nearly all the country’s cars will have … Read more
Former National cabinet minister Wayne Mapp asks what the party’s green policy might look like. The National party has won plaudits for pledging to support the new Climate Change Commission. Climate scientist James Renwick, for example, writing for The Spinoff, welcomed the prospect of “meaningful and long-lasting policies implemented that genuinely reduce our greenhouse emissions”. … Read more
Our Climate, Your Say is the government’s invitation for public input on its Zero Carbon Bill. Climate campaigner (and former Green Party co-leader) Jeanette Fizsimons explains what she’ll be telling them. The government is seeking input to its ground-breaking Zero Carbon Bill which will set a target for emissions, appoint a commission to advise it, … Read more
Climate change is not a partisan issue, and the need to take big steps to reduce emissions is urgent. So the opposition support for a Climate Change Commission is very welcome, writes climate scientist James Renwick. In climate policy-land, things are all go here in New Zealand. The coalition government has got its Zero Carbon … Read more
Within the next decade New Zealand will achieve at least 90% renewable energy. So we have nothing to fear from the Zero Carbon Act other than opportunity, argues Meridian Energy CEO Neal Barclay. While New Zealand remains small in global terms we can’t underestimate how powerful it is to work as individuals, organisations and as … Read more
We have a lot of work to do to achieve carbon neutrality in just over three decades. Attention needs to focus on the likes of cars, trees, batteries and farms, writes energy analyst Briony Bennett. New Zealand must map out a path to carbon neutrality by 2050. Small-emitting nations are responsible for up to 30% … Read more
Climate change is a harsh reality for the Pacific Islands. After travelling to the Solomon Islands to meet the communities already affected by climate change, Madeleine Chapman looks at New Zealand’s responsibility in the region and the campaign for the Zero Carbon Act. There’s a completely unfounded and illogical belief among humans that, at the … Read more
Climate change is a harsh reality for the Pacific Islands. Madeleine Chapman travelled to the Solomon Islands with World Vision to meet the communities whose lives are already being upturned by climate change. The homes at the Lord Howe settlement are well built. So much so that it took me by surprise when we entered … Read more