Greenpeace’s Green Covid Response

• weka
• 4 years ago
• Categories: climate change, covid-19, Environment
• Tags: greenpeace, how change happens, just transition, regen, regenag

A press release from Greenpeace NZ on the last of the oil giants to leave NZ,

Austrian oil giant OMV has announced that it’s indefinitely postponing its last remaining oil and gas exploration plans in the Taranaki Basin.

Greenpeace is claiming “a win of generational significance” that signals an end to offshore oil exploration in New Zealand.

This one is easier than other examples of how covid brings an opportunity to make the changes that we’ve been desperately needing to make. An end to oil exploration has been high on the activist agenda for a while, because it makes our immediate environment safer, but also because it opens the door for NZ to transition to a post-carbon society.



If we are saying no more oil, then it’s on us to walk our talk and reduce our dependence on oil imports now. We can’t really say no oil exploration here but we’re ok with other countries taking the risks.



So how can we do this?



Greenpeace again, pointing out that we can make fast change and adapt when we have to,

“Now is the time to reimagine and rebuild the world we want so that when we come out the other end of this crisis, we are living in a more resilient Aotearoa. This starts with a rapid transition away from fossil fuels, and towards a society powered by clean, renewable energy.”

In light of the Government’s post-Covid economic recovery plan, Greenpeace has produced a Green Covid Response package and presented it to Government Ministers.

We can sign the petition to government here.



From the Green Covid Response,

We currently face three simultaneous crises in Aotearoa New Zealand: the Covid-19 pandemic and an associated economic downturn, rising inequality, and a worsening climate and ecological crisis. As the Government turns its attention towards the long-term project of economic recovery, we urge you to plan a response that protects us from the impacts of climate change and lifts up workers and vulnerable communities.

Greenpeace talks about the unprecedented opportunity to prevent catastrophic climate change, make New Zealand more resilient to extreme weather events, and transition society to a regenerative model for ecological,  and social/economic well being.

In this paper, we outline a collection of solutions that fall under the banner of a “green stimulus”, providing jobs and boosting economic activity whilst fast-tracking much-needed projects to restore the natural world we depend on. These include:

Immediate shovel-ready projects to prioritise

1. Providing finance and support for home insulation and heat pumps.
2. Fast-tracking fencing and planting of on-farm waterways with Government finance.
3. Attaching strict, science-aligned decarbonisation, biodiversity enhancement and workers’ rights conditions to corporate bailouts.
4. Introducing a Universal Basic Income.

Priority investments for the long-term wellbeing of Aotearoa

1. Unprecedented investment in public transport, cycling and rail infrastructure to accelerate our mobility into the 21st century.
2. Billions in finance for distributed solar and wind, alongside upgrades to the power grid.
3. A billion-dollar regenerative farming fund to support farmers to transition to regenerative agriculture.
4. A sizable boost in finance for DOC to employ a “conservation corps” of people to eradicate pests, plant native trees and restore critical habitats.
5. Constructing new, affordable homes that meet the highest energy-efficiency standards.
6. Put millions into ocean restoration projects to restore critical marine ecosystems

Good stuff. Full details of the Green Covid Response and petition to sign are here.

To which I would add a few things from further out on the regen/sustainability/resiliency edge,

1. In addition to heat pumps, for the colder parts of the country, push NZ to up its game on ultra efficient wood stoves, alongside regenerative forestry that provides firewood and creates a net carbon sink. This is zero carbon space, water and cooking heating.
2. I’m not yet convinced fast-tracking a UBI is better than mending welfare, or that a NZ UBI is in fact shovel ready. I’m open to it, but I’m not yet seeing the convincing arguments beyond the surface appeal. My concern is that doing a UBI too fast will give us a system that isn’t tory-proof and doesn’t centre the most vulnerable people in NZ. I’m still not seeing emerging models of how to do a UBI in  NZ in a useful way. Hope that happens soon.
3. Do a stocktake of housing in NZ, and look first at extensive, sustainably designed, retrofitting of existing housing to make it healthy and energy efficient (this is beyond simply insulating).
4. Regulate the building industry to make owner/builder housing more accessible and affordable. Create interim regulations to allow people to live in mobile tiny homes. Look at currently unused housing, and rentals about to be put on the market that the government could buy. I suspect we need to build less houses than most are thinking. Building new homes needs to be done along side industry reform to urgently address the ecological, environmental and climate damage being done.
5. As part of the incentives to farmers to transition to regenag, put the support into developing localised food supply chains.

Greenpeace ends by acknowledging they don’t have all the answers and encouraging the bringing of all good ideas to the table. So have at it Standardistas. Check out the Green Covid Response, pick out your areas of interest and bring your good ideas to the table.