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Climate Change Policy

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Summary

Tangata whenua and tangata Tiriti seek to mitigate climate harms by prioritising a cultural shift that addresses the root causes of climate change. This will be achieved by focusing on Te Tiriti o Waitangi-based solutions, energy sufficiency, efficiency and democratisation, supporting sustainable modes of transport, rapidly phasing out fossil fuels, agricultural diversification to more plant-based, climate-safe and resilient models, and economic transformation that avoids growth. Adaptation planning, just transitions and free public services will prioritise the needs of the most vulnerable, and increase social equity.

OUR VISION

We enjoy a liveable future in Aotearoa New Zealand, stemming from our urgent actions to negate the global climate crisis through an equitable and robust evidence-based process that prioritises mātauranga Māori.

Climate Change Policy

Values and Principles

Actions to mitigate and adapt to climate change are based on these values and principles:
Honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi:

Tangata whenua and tangata Tiriti co-design solutions to address climate change, using a whole-system lens and prioritising tino rangatiratanga, for the benefit of land and people.

Urgency:

The window for reducing greenhouse gases to achieve a climate-safe world has almost closed. Immediate and transformative change to most human systems is required if we are to minimise species extinction and ecosystem collapse.

Ecological Wisdom:

We must reduce our greenhouse gas emissions to safe ecological and atmospheric limits, and sequester CO2 to allow the regeneration of ecosystems harmed by climate change.

Global Responsibilities:

Aotearoa New Zealand, a relatively wealthy country with high per capita and historic emissions, has a legal and moral obligation to provide international leadership by reducing emissions and providing climate finance to emerging economies, especially in the Pacific.

Social Responsibility:

Our transition to a climate-safe world means protecting community wellbeing, stopping excessive consumption, and addressing inequalities by empowering marginalised groups.

Economic Transformation:

An economic transformation must address the climate crisis by supporting collective wellbeing through prioritising indigenous values, sufficiency and equity, and providing opportunities for every member to develop their skills, in an inclusive society.

Appropriate Decision-making:

The decisions about how best to mitigate and adapt to climate change should be inclusive, transparent, prioritise the voices of those adversely affected, and based on mātauranga Māori and other science.

Non-violence:

Climate safe actions must avoid perpetuating: the harm on people and the environment caused by colonisation; our sense of entitlement as a developed nation; and ongoing exploitation.

Climate Change Policy

Strategic priorities

"Aotearoa New Zealand will lead the world in reducing gross domestic emissions of all greenhouse gases, and will be on track to end fossil-fuel use and production no later than 2035, through legally binding mechanisms. Our nation will lead the world in sequestering carbon through ecologically sound means. Adaptation to unavoidable climate change will be well underway. Comprehensive support for communities and individuals affected both by the transition to a net zero emissions economy and by the impacts of climate change within New Zealand and the Pacific will be well established." Actions in this policy that will help achieve this include:
  • Requiring that the legislated emission reduction targets and Nationally Determined Contribution (and all government policies and actions to achieve them) are transparent, credible, fair, and align with our global obligation to restrict global warming to within 1.5°C of pre-industrial levels with no overshoot.
  • Supporting and resourcing the establishment of regional, representative, Tiriti-based citizens’ assemblies, and empowering them to recommend their own climate adaptation plans based on Just Transition principles.
  • Supporting the autonomy and self-determination of hapū, iwi, and Māori businesses to develop their own climate change response plans. 
  • Providing the public with the latest climate change-related evidence, as part of a regular accountability statement that enables all New Zealanders to be part of the solution.
  • Prioritising scientifically robust methods for carbon sequestration, including in soils, that occur through the restoration of native ecosystems.
  • Proactively identifying disproportionately impacted people (e.g., women, those with a disability, and remote communities) and supporting them to develop and implement inclusive plans to avoid physical, social and economic harm.

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Connected Policies

Urgent transformation is needed in a wide range of sectors and aspects of society to avert the potentially catastrophic impacts of climate change and minimise social harms. These changes are detailed in other policies, including: 
  • Reducing the need for, and the greenhouse gas harms from, long-distance imports by strengthening New Zealand's local economies and other systems that prioritise Community in the Economy, and ensuring that the agreements reached at all Trade and Foreign Investment negotiations support international emission reduction targets.
  • Reducing gross emissions from domestic Agriculture, Tourism, Marine fishing, and other high-emission sectors, and resourcing a just transition to resilient, regenerative alternatives.
  • Supporting an expanding and diverse Forestry sector, where appropriate, for Tiriti-based, sustainable, and equitable short-term carbon sequestration and carbon-neutral resources.