Posts Tagged ‘Climate crisis’
New Zealand’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) And Emissions Budgets Need Urgent Review
Our current Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), made under the Paris Agreement, is extremely weak. While not clearly stated, the undertaking to reduce our emissions by 30% over the 2005-2030 period is based on a comparison of gross emissions in the base year with net emissions in the target year. On a consistent net-net basis it is actually an undertaking to increase our net emissions by approximately 1% over this period.
Read MoreA New Perspective on the Importance of Methane in New Zealand’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Recent analysis shows that in the relatively short timeframe available to curb our carbon emissions, it is even more important than we thought to get on top of our methane emissions. This is not an easy message to get across in New Zealand, which relies heavily on its agricultural economy.
Read MoreSubmission To: Climate Action For Aotearoa
Although the need for action to limit climate change has been well understood since at least 1990, global CO2e emissions have continued to increase strongly over the past 30 years and only now is the rate of increase showing some signs of deceleration. It has become very clear that, in order to avoid potentially disastrous consequences, we need to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. The Paris Agreement, which came into force on 4 November 2016, was a step forward in addressing this very major challenge, but the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) submitted so far are not nearly adequate to meet the target.
Read MoreBuilding For Climate Change
As a group of professional engineers, Engineers for Social Responsibility (ESR) strongly endorse MBIE’s commitment to meet the government’s Carbon Zero targets by 2050, and the implementation of changes to our Building Consent regulations that will improve operational efficiency and reduce lifecycle carbon emissions from New Zealand’s building stock.
Read MoreGetting New Zealand Moving
We endorse the crucial role of the Climate Change Commission in informing government policy, and the principles for investment outlined in their letter dated 7 April, 2020. To complement this advice, we would also like to draw your attention to the following risks and opportunities.
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Carbon Dynamics in New Zealand’s Native Forests
Native forests play an important role in storing and sequestering carbon in the New Zealand landscape. They do not sequester carbon as quickly as pine forests but can provide significant carbon stores and sinks, as well as a range of other benefits.
Read MoreSubmission On The Zero Carbon Bill
The Zero Carbon Bill is a critically important piece of legislation for New Zealand. Even though the importance of controlling global warming has become increasingly clear and more widely understood over the past 30 years, to date we have not set meaningful targets to significantly reduce emissions and we have not had any mechanisms in place that seem to have had any significant effect on driving reductions in emissions. Hence our net emissions have just continued to increase through most of this period.
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Climate Change – New Zealand and International Responses
Despite the critical need to address climate change, caused primarily by increasing levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels, response has been slowed by pressure from vested interests, a focus by some governments on short-term political objectives and the difficulties of reaching effective international agreements. Some countries are already taking effective action though, and the urgent need for others to join them is becoming extremely clear.
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