Zero Carbon Act for NZ, Environment watchdog's report a valuable contribution

“The new Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s first report dealing with New Zealand’s proposed Zero Carbon Act provides a valuable contribution to the national conversation on this issue,” says the Acting Minister for Climate Change, Julie Anne Genter.

“Commissioner Simon Upton’s report, “A Zero Carbon Act for New Zealand”, lays out the sort of things we, as a nation will need to address in setting targets and having a durable way of managing our transition to a low emissions sustainable economy while providing certainty for businesses and investors.

“Mr Upton’s report also offers interesting areas for consideration based on his observations of the United Kingdom’s approach to establishing a Climate Commission and setting carbon budgets.

“At the same time, Mr Upton acknowledges New Zealand has very different emissions profiles to the UK and very different challenges,” Ms Genter says.

“Climate change is affecting us all now, but we have a huge opportunity to build a cleaner economy and ensure security for ourselves and for future generations of New Zealanders.

“Like the new Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, we, as the Green Party support partner of the Labour-led coalition Government agree that there needs to be thorough debate to reach a durable structure for New Zealand’s Zero Carbon Act.

“The Zero Carbon Act is about setting up the big picture framework that will drive practical, common sense actions to reduce our climate pollution.”

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