Source: Greenpeace
Greenpeace is welcoming the Green Party’s Climate-Safe Communities plan released today, but issues a reminder that the best way to keep communities safe from the climate crisis is to stop it from escalating. The Green Party announced a policy to provide a new $750 million urban nature fund, alongside a wide range of measures to support more resilient cities.
“This policy is strong, but ultimately climate safety is dependent on our willingness to cut climate pollution now,” says Greenpeace spokesperson Christine Rose.
“We’re seeing the impacts of the climate crisis worldwide, from Cyclone Gabrielle here in Aotearoa, to the devastating fires in Maui, Hawai’i. But we still have the chance to stop this crisis from getting worse.
“It’s time to talk about the cow in the room. We need action on Big Dairy, New Zealand’s worst climate polluter. The industry has been allowed to pollute unchecked, pushing predatory denial and delay that has captured successive Governments. It’s long past time for that to change.
“Investments in climate-safe communities need to be supported by reducing climate pollution from New Zealand’s most polluting industries – agriculture, transport, and energy – to address the cause, not just the symptoms, of climate change,” says Rose.
“We’re glad to see a commitment to walkable, cyclable cities, making room for urban streams, tree protection and urban jobs for nature included in this policy announcement, but there is much more to do.
“We need urgent action now to cut climate pollution, and that’s why this year’s election must be a climate election. The Greens must commit to prioritising climate, by making both emissions reductions and climate-safe communities bottom lines in post-election negotiations, and take on New Zealand’s worst climate polluter – intensive dairy.”
Greenpeace, alongside more than forty other organisations, is calling on all political parties to adopt ten key actions for a safe and stable climate and healthy environment – including action on intensive dairy’s climate pollution. These are outlined in a plan known as Climate Shift. More than 13,000 New Zealanders have signed on in support of the plan since it launched in June.
