11. STEVE CHADWICK (Labour—Rotorua) Link to this
to the Minister responsible for Climate Change Issues
What reports, if any, has he received on support for the Government’s climate change policy?
Hon DAVID PARKER (Minister responsible for Climate Change Issues) Link to this
I have received a report that a senior member of this House called Kyoto “a failure of a document”, and a second report in which the same member says he would now honour Kyoto. Of course, the member responsible for yet another climate change flip-flop is John Key. New Zealanders will judge whether his comments are as sincere as they were consistent.
I have received a report that the InterCity group aims to operate the world’s first carbon-neutral national transport system. It recognises the business and environmental benefits of carbon neutrality. Despite National’s wish to the contrary, carbon neutrality continues to break out all over the place.
Hon Dr Nick Smith Link to this
Will the Government adopt John Key’s very realistic and credible policy target of a 50 percent reduction—[ Interruption]
Madam SPEAKERHon Dr Nick Smith Link to this
Will the Government adopt John Key’s very realistic and credible policy target of a 50 percent reduction in 1990 emissions by 2050, as announced at the weekend, noting today’s announcement by Japan that it will propose this exact same target at the June G8 summit in Germany, and that Japan has indicated the United States’ support for that target; and does that not show that John Key is right on the button in terms of where the international community is at on this critical issue of climate change?
I am gratified that the National Party seems to be getting in behind when it comes to climate change policy. It is now coming out in favour of emissions trading, having recently supported us on the Permanent Forest Sink Initiative. I would say that advancing towards carbon neutrality can be achieved through steady pursuit of sensible—[ Interruption]
I would say that advancing towards carbon neutrality can be achieved through steady pursuit of sensible climate change policy—ensuring houses are adequately insulated, rewarding those who plant forests on—
Hon Dr Nick Smith Link to this
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. My question was straightforward: will the Government adopt the minus 50 by 2050 target? I seek that the Minister, rather than giving us a generic speech, addresses the question.
The Minister is addressing the question. If he had been able to finish, I might be able to make a better judgment on that basis.
In addition to those sectoral efforts, the Government is proposing other policy and, of course, this other policy will enable the Government to properly calculate what is an appropriate target for our emissions reductions.
Hon Dr Nick Smith Link to this
Will the Minister, having stated on 6 November 2006: “You ask me what date would New Zealand be carbon neutral. We haven’t picked a date yet. You’ll find it becomes clear in 6 months.”, now make the situation clear, given that 6 months have passed, or was this just another example of climate change policy from him of promising answers in the never-never and never delivering?
Members who have had an opportunity to review the United Nations report on climate change, and the different mitigation options that are open to countries to reduce their emissions, will be pleased to see that the measures that have been proposed by this Government, and that are being considered pursuant to the documents released prior to Christmas, cover the ambit of mitigation potential.
Hon Dr Nick Smith Link to this
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. My question asked on what date New Zealand would be carbon neutral. The Minister said 6 months ago that we would know now. He made no attempt to answer that at all. He gave a generic answer about what might be happening around mitigation. No attempt was made to address the question of what date the Government would achieve carbon neutrality by.