The Green Party announced today it will seek to pass binding climate change legislation in the first 100 days in Government. Green Party leader James Shaw made the commitment to a Zero Carbon Act on Newshub’s The Nation debate this morning.
“If we are to treat climate change like our generation’s nuclear free moment, we need to back that up in law”, said Green Party leader James Shaw.
“Successive governments have allowed New Zealand’s climate pollution to keep growing. Only the Greens have a plan to turn that around.
“A Zero Carbon Act will provide an anchor for government action on climate change and drive decisions across the economy to make sure New Zealand is doing its fair share to keep global warming under 2 degrees.
“The Act will mean that climate targets are legally binding, and the Government will be obliged to have a detailed plan about exactly how it will meet those targets, detail that has been desperately missing under National.
“This is what real action on climate change looks like.
“Reducing pollution will mean investing to create a better New Zealand. It means investing in fast, electric and clean light rail in our cities, in warm insulated, energy efficient housing, in solar energy and cheaper electricity.
“This is the single most important thing we can do to ensure that we are protecting the health of our climate, and of our country, for future generations,” said Mr Shaw