National needs to do an about-face on climate change if we want New Zealand to stop setting new records for the hottest year ever, the Green Party said today.
The National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) predicts that 2016 will be the hottest ever recorded in New Zealand, breaking the previous record set in 1998. The record confirms the longer-term global trends of climate change.
“2016 is going to be the hottest year on record and things are just going to get worse under National’s economic leadership,” said Green Party Co-leader James Shaw.
“With New Zealand’s emissions up 19 percent since they came to office, National’s lack of leadership has been a disaster for the climate, and there’s no sign yet of things getting any better.
“Hotter temperatures and more frequent storms will hurt our economy, and rising sea levels will affect anyone that lives or works near the coast.
“New Zealanders want to do our fair share to reduce emissions, but the National Government is planning to increase net greenhouse emissions by 50 percent in the next decade.
“New Zealand is currently emitting more than seven times our fair share of greenhouse gases per person.
“We need to stop putting off doing something meaningful about the climate. Climate change is happening right now before our very eyes. We need to change the government if we want to stop climate change,” said Mr Shaw.
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