A UN review team has officially confirmed that New Zealand’s response to climate change is inadequate. It could find no plan for two thirds or more of what is required to meet the nation’s emissions reduction target for 2020. The review voices its “great concern” about whether New Zealand will put measures in place in time to do so.
Of the 12 megatonnes (Mt) of emissions savings New Zealand claims will result from government policy measures in 2020, 10 Mt is said to arise from the ETS. Contrary to UN rules, New Zealand provided no detail to show how this was calculated. However, the review states that 7.2 Mt of the claimed savings arise from abandoning unspecified coal-fired generation.
Read the Sustainability Council briefing: NZs Climate Response Officially Inadequate
