4/07/2006
- Minister Responsible for Climate Change Issues
David Parker today released government papers
on energy and energy efficiency, and a report
looking at the government's direction on climate
change policy.
“Across the world, countries
are grappling with the challenges posed by dramatic
price increases, constraints on traditional fuels
supplies, and the impacts of climate change. They
are all closely related,” Mr Parker said.
“The government is looking at
its long term policy settings around climate change.
There has been much focus on the Kyoto protocol
response for 2008 – 2012. While this remains important,
it is only a subset of climate change.
“We are looking at how New Zealand
can meet the challenges to our economy, environment
and way of life posed by climate change over the
coming decades. Accordingly, the focus of the
work programmes is first and foremost on the long
term.
“The does not mean that short
term initiatives such as improving the efficiency
of our vehicle fleet, enhancing building standards
and encouraging forestry are not important. But
they must be consistent with long term policy
settings.
“Changes to the climate in the
next 20 to 30 years are determined by greenhouse
gas emissions which have already occurred or are
inevitable, so it is important that we plan for
and adapt to the unavoidable effects which are
on their way.
"NZ is a biologically based
economy vulnerable to unstable climate. There
is little doubt that New Zealand’s climate will
become more unstable in the years ahead. Climate
variability in the future is expected to bring
more drought to already drought prone areas and
more floods to those areas of NZ already vulnerable.
"A wide range of people
are affected by climate change and the policy
responses we are developing. Over the coming months,
Ministers and officials will be engaging extensively
with the various groups affected as we progress
towards final policy decisions.
“There are no easy answers to
the problem posed by climate change. The government
is looking at a wide array of measures."
Mr Parker said the work on climate
change policy was entwined with the work being
done on the New Zealand Energy Strategy and the
National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy.
He also released an update on
preparation of the new NEECS, together with the
terms of reference for the NZES. A draft of the
NZES is expected to be published in September,
following which public submissions on it will
be sought.
