The Green Party today announced a comprehensive plan to tackle climate change including replacing the Emissions Trading Scheme with a Kiwi Climate Fund. “We’re the first generation that will feel the effects of climate change, and the last that can stop it. We have a responsibility to act, and the Green Party has a plan to do it,” said Green Party leader James Shaw. “The Green Party’s first priority in government will be passing the Zero Carbon Act and to...

Low-income New Zealanders are struggling to keep warm this winter, the Green Party said today. A new report by Statistics New Zealand revealed that around one in three New Zealand households are experiencing some form of energy hardship. “It’s disgraceful that almost one in three New Zealand households are having to keep the heater turned off because they can’t afford to pay the electricity bill,” said Green Party social housing spokesperson Marama Davidson. “20 Kiwi kids are dying every year...

The Green Party today announced that, in government, it will create New Zealand’s largest marine mammal sanctuary, to protect a blue whale feeding ground off the South Taranaki coast from destructive activities, including seabed iron sands mining. Green Party leader James Shaw made the announcement together with Ngāti Ruanui on a beach near Patea, Taranaki, where people formed a human chain to show their opposition to a recently granted seabed mining permit off the coast. “Critically endangered blue whales are...

The Green Party has welcomed the Government’s recent announcement that one in three cars in its vehicle fleet will be electric by 2021, but it is still ‘low power.’ “While this is a good start, we need to charge up the ambition to ensure that New Zealand is keeping pace with the rest of the world,” said Green Party transport spokesperson Julie Anne Genter.  “Aotearoa should be leading the world in electric vehicle adaptation. Instead, National’s lack of leadership has...

The Green Party is calling on the oil industry to hold itself to a higher code of conduct after it was alleged that some companies have paid private investigators to spy on Greenpeace activists and their families. “It is outrageous and unacceptable for private investigators to invade the personal lives of Greenpeace staff and volunteers. We are calling on the oil industry to strengthen their existing code of conduct and hold itself to higher standards,” said Green Party Energy and...

The Green Party is calling on the oil industry to hold itself to a higher code of conduct after it was alleged that some companies have paid private investigators to spy on Greenpeace activists and their families.

A new gas power plant granted consent today in southern Waikato is a step backwards for New Zealand’s efforts to generate more renewable electricity, the Green Party said today. “New Zealand is blessed with an abundance of renewable electricity options like solar, geothermal, and wind, so there’s no good reason we should be allowing new power plants that burn fossil fuels in the era of climate change,” Green Party energy and resources spokesperson Gareth Hughes said. “It’s irresponsible that climate...

Conservation Minister Maggie Barry will have to go against the will of the New Zealand public if she pushes ahead with more open-cast coal mining on conservation land on the West Coast, the Green Party said today. It has been revealed that the Government is planning to open up areas of the West Coast’s Buller Plateau for open-cast and underground coal mining, home to kiwi, geckos, and other rare plants and animals. “It looks like Maggie Barry herself is at...

The Green Party has today launched a plan for cheaper power bills, cleaner electricity generation, and a smarter electricity network. The Empowering New Zealand comprehensive plan for the electricity sector includes: $112 million for winter warm-up payments to help low-income households cover their power bills setting a goal for 100 percent renewable electricity by 2030 (in average hydrological conditions) an investigation into the electricity wholesale market encouraging lines companies to work together and embrace new technology to bring down costs...

The Government’s decision to allow oil drilling in 35.5 percent of the North Island Maui’s dolphin sanctuary, as well as along the shores of picturesque Lake Te Anau and close to Fiordland National Park, creates major risks for New Zealand’s clean and green tourism brand, the Green Party said today. “There are only 63 Maui’s Dolphins alive and drilling for oil and gas in the area that’s supposed to be their sanctuary puts every one of them at risk,” said...