Minister feeling the heat on climate change

James Shaw discusses Tolaga Bay storm damage with Mike Parker.

Disgruntled Gisborne farmers challenged Climate Change Minister James Shaw at a public consultation meeting last night on the proposed Zero Carbon Bill.

More than 50 people attended the public meeting as Mr Shaw, flanked by Environment Ministry staff, sought public views, ideas and concerns on the Government’s goal of reaching a zero emissions target by 2050.

“The whole point of this public exercise is to inform, address concerns and seek advice as to how the public want this to proceed,’’ said Mr Shaw.

A number of people at the meeting took issue with how the agriculture sector was represented in the documentation presented to the public.

One spoke about how other countries looked to New Zealand farming as the ‘‘gold standard’’, as much was done to protect the unique biodiversity in this region. But this was not often recorded or acknowledged.

Many asked why there was such an emphasis on trees within the Emissions Trading Scheme.

“Planting trees is hiding the problem under a band-aid.”

One farmer said he wanted to scream every time he saw a graph that suggested the agriculture sector was responsible for 49 percent of emissions.

“This is fraudulent reporting,” he said.

Another stated that methane had already stabilised, or only fractionally increased, since 1990 but this also was not reported.

“Methane is a short-lived gas, unlike carbon dioxide, so it basically recycles — yet we are focused more on this than carbon dioxide.”

Gisborne District Council principal scientist Dr Murry Cave said this was an engaged but vulnerable community.

“We need to be thinking about what we can do to protect against serendipitous acts that might increase as a result of climate changes. Our remoteness is our vulnerability.”

Others said a proposed climate change commission needed adequate representation.

?If you want Maori landowners to come on board, there needs to be the right representation and equity.

“We don’t want the commission at the mercy of the politicians.”

The ministry panel agreed and said this kind of feedback was essential.

“The support we’re seeing for action on climate change shows that Kiwis do not shy away from tackling the hard problems.

“Moving to a low-carbon economy and to renewable electricity won’t be easy — it will take time.

“We’ll need to support new research and development, and we’ll need to bring every sector in the country with us. Everyone has a stake in making this transition succeed.

“That’s why we want an independent climate change commission to take a long-term view as we plan our economic transition.

“We all know that making a plan for climate action now will pay off in the long-term, and we have an opportunity to lead the way,” Mr Shaw said.

• Submissions can be made on an online form available at https://submissions.mfe.govt.nz/consultations/zero-carbon-bill/make-a-submission and a summary document on the Zero Carbon Bill can be found on the Ministry for the Environment website.