Coalition of cowards slashes investment in climate action

Actions speak louder than words and this Government's attack on the climate will ripple through generations, says the Green Party.

“The other day, Government parties said, ‘Drill, baby, drill,’ and today, they may as well have said, ‘burn, baby, burn’,” says Green Party co-leader and climate spokesperson, Chlöe Swarbrick.

“This Government has slashed and burned almost all climate and environmentally minded policy whilst pouring coal, oil and gas over the roaring climate crisis fire. Today’s Budget has seen funding from almost every major programme in the Emissions Reduction Plan absolutely gutted.

“What remains of climate action funding is not nearly enough to meet the scale of the climate crisis. The Minister of Climate Change needs to front up and explain how big a chasm his government has created in the emissions budgets that it signed up to, and how they plan to make up for that.

“Greenhouse Gas figures released by Stats NZ today showing further decreases in emissions are proof that the Green initiatives of the last two terms were working. Government investment in decarbonising industry together with a higher carbon price drove the reduction in industrial emissions, while the clean car discount made a big dent in our overall emissions.

“The irony is that the Government’s plan to rely on the Emissions Trading Scheme is even more tenuous than before, because the Government has cut the funding for improving ETS market governance, meaning we risk creating a Wild West of dodgy carbon trading.

“This year’s Budget will see the climate crisis rage on unchallenged as the Government once again fails to show any commitment or urgency towards combating climate change.

“Governments are defined by their choices and this one is choosing to bury its head in the coal.

“It has made the choice to put cynical politics ahead of people and planet, serving the short-term interests of wealthy donors over the wellbeing of all of us,” says Chlöe Swarbrick.

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