A major report detailing the impacts of climate change on New Zealand is a reality check for the Government, and shows National needs to stop talking and start acting to combat climate pollution, the Green Party said today. A major report released today by a group of top scientists and academics at the Royal Society of New Zealand shows that a failure to reduce climate-damaging pollution will put coastal property and infrastructure at risk, double the frequency of droughts in...

The Green Party is calling on the National Government to immediately promise not to use any of the emission reduction units it knows to be fraudulent, in order to meet its global commitments to cut climate pollution.   Today the Morgan Foundation released a report claiming the Government allowed “fraudulent” emission reduction units from the Ukraine and Russia to be bought by New Zealand polluters so that the country could meet its 2020 climate target on the cheap.   ‘Emission...

The Green Party is calling on the Government to immediately cancel all the fake emission reduction units it owns and admit it cheated in order to meet its global commitments to cut climate pollution.. Today the Morgan Foundation alleged in the Listener Magazine that the Government allowed ‘fraudulent’ emission reduction units from the Ukraine and Russia to be used so New Zealand could meet its 2020 climate target on the cheap. ‘Emission reduction units’ allow New Zealand polluters to pay...

A startling new international report by the UN’s World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) on the state of the climate has found the number of named storms in the South Pacific has almost doubled above the annual average, which should prompt the National Government to dramatically revise its target for reducing climate damaging pollution, the Green Party said today. Commenting on the release of the Statement on the Status of the Global Climate in 2015, the WMO Director described temperatures in January...

The largest ever oil and gas Block Offer announced today, including 2,600 km2 in the Maui’s dolphin sanctuary, is a disaster for our environment and shows how desperate the National Government is to keep its oil dream alive in the face of growing public concern about climate change, the Green Party said. “This is a disaster for the environment and yet another example of National backing a polluting industry instead of investing in the clean-technology jobs that New Zealanders want,”...

The Green Party can reveal the Government is continuing to pour public money into subsidies for the oil and gas industry and ignore clean energy investment, on the eve of a major government-sponsored oil and gas conference starting in Auckland tomorrow. The Government has just confirmed it spent $47,583 on the 2016 Minerals Exploration Data Pack – a collection of valuable data for overseas fossil fuel companies as a sweetener to make drilling for oil in New Zealand more attractive....

Data obtained by the Green Party shows that the National Government’s funding announcement at the Paris climate change conference is a cut to assistance to help other countries deal with climate change.

The Green Party has today written to Energy and Resources Minister Simon Bridges, asking him to commission an independent study into the best options for replacing coal-burning electricity generation at Huntly with cleaner alternatives. The call follows electricity industry backlash against the decision by Huntly power plant owner Genesis to stop burning coal in 2018, and pressure from the industry for New Zealand to keep burning coal to generate electricity. “With the pressure coming on Genesis to keep burning coal,...

Power companies should be leading a national shift to clean energy, not lining up to keep the Huntly coal power station open, the Green Party said today. Green Party energy spokesperson Gareth Hughes is inviting the power companies that have called for Huntly to keep burning coal to meet with him and find a way to replace coal with cleaner options. “If burning more coal is the answer then as a country we have been asking the wrong questions,” Mr...

The self-proclaimed ‘business friendly’ National Government is out-of-step with its own bank and the wider business community who want stronger action to reign-in climate damaging pollution, the Green Party said today. A new Ministry for the Environment report reveals that nearly all businesses surveyed believed the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) could do more to drive down carbon emissions in the business sector and encourage more tree planting.[1] An independent report just released by Westpac has also criticised the National Government...