Words and deeds

Written By: - Date published: 3:02 pm, December 18th, 2009 - 18 comments
Categories: climate change, Environment, john key - Tags: ,

Words:

Prime Minister John Key has urged the world’s major economies to listen to the voices of vulnerable nations facing climate change. .. The current system of limited participation under the Kyoto Protocol had to be moved to one of “comprehensive global coverage”, he said.

“For this to be achieved we need international commitments from all major emitters that accommodate diverse national approaches to mitigation and adaptation,” he said.

“At this conference we need leadership from the major economies; they need to listen to the voices of vulnerable nations that are facing the harsh realities of climate change.

“For New Zealand, we are acutely aware of the challenge climate change poses for our Pacific island neighbours.” … “Now is the time for us to set aside our differences and to collectively map a pathway forward.

“Now is the time for every country to give a little so we as a world can gain a lot.

“But now is the time for us all to face the reality that of all the options on the table at Copenhagen, failure is the one we can all least afford.”

Deeds:

A review of New Zealand’s position on an international climate change league table has seen us relegated to a position equal with cellar dwellers China, the United States and Australia.

The multi-agency Climate Action Tracker used the latest United Nations information to review New Zealand’s 10-20 per cent 2020 emissions target, later dropping our ranking from “medium” to “inadequate”.

Prime Minister John Key said this week – before leaving for Copenhagen – that the “knowledgeable” climate watch group had assessed New Zealand as being in the “medium” group of countries, which showed New Zealand was in “pretty good shape”. Climate negotiations minister Tim Groser had also referred to the “medium” ranking in Copenhagen this week saying it showed New Zealand was doing its share.
…
The Sustainability Council’s Simon Terry reviewed the rankings last weekend and concluded that New Zealand’s “medium” rating was wrong. Yesterday he said there were other problems with the target that had not been picked up. “What climate tracker has yet to report is that there are essentially no gains for the environment from New Zealand’s pledge on current plans, just the temporary storage of emissions in trees that are to be chopped down in the 2020s,” he said.

18 comments on “Words and deeds ”

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  1. Bored 1
    18 December 2009 at 3:22 pm

    OMG, wonder who wrote this platitude filed bullshit for the credibility challenged one. How f***ng embarrassing. God how I pray for the sake of our national credibility that Helen does a lot better.

  2. Bill 2
    18 December 2009 at 3:41 pm

    When he says that failure is the option that can be least afforded, he is talking about a failure to contain temperature rises right?

    I mean, he’s not referring to a lucrative Cap and Trade arrangement and the loss of future potential profits should one not be cobbled together. right?

    “But now is the time for us all to face the reality that of all the options ( Cap and Trade and…..?) on the table at Copenhagen, failure ( ie no new market opportunities?) is the one we ( we being John and his speculating banker mates?) can all least afford.”

    • Bill 2.1
      18 December 2009 at 4:01 pm

      Having very quickly scanned the full speech here’s the bare ones of it. The italics denote my add ons which are intended to act purely as clarification.

      “A clear and firm signal must be sent to the world.(…) We must also avoid inefficient rules that constrain the carbon market. An open global carbon market is crucial for maximizing global emissions reduction profit flow”

      The words and deeds match.

      Oh, missed this wee doozy….”Progress will require commitment, compromise and cash”.

      There you go. nuff said.

      Cash comes from compromising any commitment to dealing with the problem which equals progress

  3. Kevin Welsh 3
    18 December 2009 at 3:41 pm

    John Key… you is a twat.

  4. tc 4
    18 December 2009 at 3:51 pm

    Ah just like back in the old money market dealing days…….don’t let truth get in the way of a good story.

    Inside the PM’s brain the thoughts are….”Geez this podium’s shiny, I hope geri hasn’t eaten anymore civil servants, Jude quite a spunk if she wasn’t so butch, is there a danish disneyland……etc”

  5. tc 5
    18 December 2009 at 4:16 pm

    You have to laugh after talking to the folk who voted for Nat’s…..besotted with the spin, got sick of helen (most I speak to haven’t lived in nz pre 2000 so have no shipley/muldoon history) and when you ask about their kids education, tax cuts, S59, EFA, public transport etc etc……..gosh they go all quiet and bang on about how unispiring Phil is.

    Style is dancing all over substances grave in the current climate, the denial monkeys are everywhere.

  6. Tigger 6
    18 December 2009 at 4:22 pm

    Great post rob, nothing like choking someone with their own hands.

  7. gitmo 7
    18 December 2009 at 5:54 pm

    Simon Terry and the NZ Sustainability Council … is that this chap

    “Since 1991 Simon has also managed an economics consulting partnership, STA Ltd. Through this firm, he has led an extensive series of research projects on issues including climate change response strategies, mechanisms for boosting renewable energy uptake, utility valuation and pricing, transport pricing, water supply contract structures, measures of sustainability, economic issues associated with genetic modification, and energy efficiency uptake.

    Prior to founding STA, Simon worked as an investment banker and as a financial journalist. He received a string of awards for his investigative reporting in the National Business Review during the 1980s.”

    Yes I’m sure he hasn’t got any financial interests at stake from felching as much money out of climate change as possible… plus he’s a bearded ginga !

  8. lprent 8
    18 December 2009 at 7:48 pm

    Git: what is it with you and gingas? Seen the rear of too many ginga cows?

  9. Cadwallader 9
    19 December 2009 at 8:15 am

    It doesn’t matter who attends Copenhagen or who says/does what: Man made climate change is a discredited theory. If Key/Obama/Brown/Rudd see political points in it; leave them to it! They’re losers.

    • Zaphod Beeblebrox 9.1
      19 December 2009 at 4:23 pm

      Might have to back that one up with a bit of scientific evidence. There’s over five hundred peer reviewed studies that I know of that have shown association to a high degree of certainty, so your reply is likely to be quite long.

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