4. Dr KENNEDY GRAHAM (Green) Link to this
to the Prime Minister
Did Pacific Island leaders with whom he met during his recent trip convey any concerns over the threat climate change poses to vulnerable Pacific Island countries, and what expectations, if any, did they raise with him regarding New Zealand’s policy in response to that regional threat?
Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister) Link to this
The issue of climate change is regularly discussed at bilateral and regional meetings with Pacific Island countries. Specifically, at my meeting with Prime Minister Dr Fred Sevele and his Ministers on 7 July I referred to climate change in a discussion of energy options for Tonga. The question of New Zealand’s climate change policies was not raised. In meeting the Ulu of Tokelau in Apia on 7 July the Tokelau leadership talked about the situation of the three atolls of Tokelau and said they wished to develop climate change policy responses with New Zealand, including in respect of renewable energy. It is worth noting that in each of the Pacific countries I visited earlier this month the key concerns conveyed to me related to economic development, the ability of countries to withstand the negative effects of the global recession, and the role New Zealand could play in helping address those issues.
Dr Kennedy Graham Link to this
In light of that comment and the peripheral discussion pertaining to climate change in the Pacific during the Prime Minister’s visit, was he comfortable offering Pacific leaders the toss of a coin for their physical survival when he conveyed his Cabinet’s target of 450 parts per million carbon concentration, given that that concentration is expected to result in a fifty-fifty chance of physical survival for several Pacific Island countries?
The points I raised were that New Zealand takes the issue of climate change seriously, that we are committed to making sure we address that issue in this country, and that the Emissions Trading Scheme Review Committee is going through a process of reviewing our emissions trading scheme legislation. Also I took on the trip with me Tim Lusk, the chief executive officer of Meridian Energy, so that we could look at a situation where, potentially, the Pacific countries could substitute their current electricity generation, which takes place by burning diesel, with solar energy.
Dr Kennedy Graham Link to this
What views in support of Pacific regional survival will the Prime Minister’s Government convey to the Secretary-General in the forthcoming UN report on the security implications of climate change, as called for in a UN resolution adopted last month by the United Nations General Assembly, which is the first ever resolution to be tabled by Pacific Island states?
New Zealand will convey in its correspondence that it takes the issue of climate change seriously, that we are trying to tackle a number of issues—particularly the fact that the structure of our emissions profile resembles much more that of a developing country, with 50 percent of our emissions coming from agriculture—that we are working hard and want to achieve changes in relation to further Kyoto policy around forestry so that it can play a more important part in helping offset some of our emissions, and that we will have some form of price system that will enable New Zealand to better cope with its rising emissions profile.
Dr Kennedy Graham Link to this
Given that the Government will convey to the United Nations the fact that New Zealand takes seriously climate change in the Pacific, will the Prime Minister give an indication of his Government’s plans to receive environmental refugees from low-lying Pacific Island states in response to the statement by the president of Kiribati 2 years ago: “If we are talking about our island states submerging in 10 years’ time, we simply have to find somewhere to go.”?
If one was to look at the Pacific one would see that the three countries that have the largest potential exposure to climate change are Kiribati, Tuvalu, and Tokelau. From New Zealand’s perspective it has a strong relationship with those countries. Although we will not be setting out exactly what support we would provide those countries if a situation of climate change threatened their long-term survival, I think those countries could rely on the fact that New Zealand has a long history with them, would support them, and already has quite a number of residents from those countries calling New Zealand home. If that situation occurred—which, it is important to understand, is likely to be a long way in the future—it would be my expectation that future New Zealand Governments would look very sympathetically on that position.
Charles ChauvelIs the Prime Minister aware that tiny, at-risk nations like Tuvalu and Niue have now set targets of 100 percent renewable energy generation by 2020, and might this not prompt his Government into once and for all saying whether it is committed to a 90 percent renewable energy generation target by 2025, as set out in the New Zealand Energy Strategy?
Hon Annette KingThe target. I think it is important to understand that New Zealand already has a lot of its energy coming from renewable sources. If we are to develop more renewable sources in terms of the development of energy, then we will need to change the Resource Management Act to allow those renewable sources to be harvested. I am looking forward to the member leading the charge in his caucus when it has the opportunity to change its vote and support us on our Resource Management Act reform bill, which will be coming back to the House very soon. I thank the member for that support.
Keith LockeWhat specific proposals for regional action on climate change will the Prime Minister be taking into next month’s Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting beyond the proposal he has talked about so far of helping individual island States replace some fossil fuel generation with renewables?
I think that in relation to those specific countries probably the single most important thing we can do is help them change their reliance on electricity generation from diesel to a form of renewable energy, whether that be wind or solar—most likely it will be solar. There are other things we can work on, but, as the member will be aware, they do not have large industrial bases that emit a lot of emissions.