Now’s the time for NZ to take the lead on climate change

New Zealand and other countries must step up and take the lead on climate change action following Donald Trump’s election, the Green Party said today.

Donald Trump has previously said he would take the US out of the Paris Climate Agreement, and rescind President Obama's executive actions on climate change.

“Now more than ever, we must put our planet’s future first, and ensure the progress we’ve made on climate change doesn’t go to waste," Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei said.

“New Zealand has a proud history of standing up for what’s right on the world stage but we haven’t yet extended that to the fight against catastrophic climate change.

“That starts with our Government doing what’s right, not what’s easy, and coming up with a comprehensive plan to cut our emissions here at home.

"The National Government can no longer coast along and continue to delay action on climate change, like it’s done for the last eight years – signing a piece of paper in Paris clearly isn’t going to be enough.

"The fact that major emitters like China, the European Union, Canada, and India are already investing billions in renewable energy and into the low-carbon economy means there is still a lot of momentum we can build on.

“Many states in the US like California, New York and Oregon are independently taking action to eliminate emissions and develop low-carbon technologies.

“The world has a very short window of opportunity to curb emissions and avoid the worst of climate change. We cannot wait the length of a Trump presidency for progress on climate change – the change must start now,” said Mrs Turei.

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