Remember our beloved Prime Minister standing up at Paris and saying that the New Zealand Government was pledging $200 million towards aid to address the effects of climate change? Well it appears the announcement actually reflects a cut. National’s “generous” announcement looks like it may actually rexult in a reduction in the amount spent in the Pacific addressing the effects of climate change.
This is how the pledge was reported in December last year:
New Zealand will commit up to $200 million to support countries’ climate change efforts – and $20 million toward ground-breaking research to slash agricultural greenhouse gases.
Prime Minister John Key announced the new funding at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris (COP21), where close to 200 nations are meeting to thrash out a new agreement to tackle global emissions.
Mr Key told delegates New Zealand would provide up to $200 million for climate-related support over the next four years, the majority of which will benefit Pacific nations.
This would build on the $65 million New Zealand has already spent over the last three years to help Pacific Nations secure reliable and clean energy.
But Andrea Vance at TVNZ has reported that things may not be quite the way they appear. The Government had been spending $63 million a year on assisting Pacific Islands address climate change. The proposed spend was over four years and would actually result in a $14 million a year reduced spend.
As Greens co leader James Shaw notes, it appears that New Zealand’s aid commitment is going down.
Paula Bennett responded by saying that the previous spend was well in advance of the previous pledge and this will happen again but Shaw’s claim that the Government is using dodgy numbers strikes a chord.
It is not the first time that the Government has anounced a multi year spend to make the amount appear bigger, and dressed up a transfer of money as a new spend.
That really is tricky man.
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