The Climate Minister says lockdown disruptions have caused delays to NZ's Emissions Reduction Plan, but a climate campaigner says slow government response is to blame.
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The group says recommendations in the commission s major report to government do not propose measures to tackle the problem aggressively enough. So that even if the recommendations were followed, New Zealand would exceed its carbon emissions targets and fail to meet its international obligations.
Dr Paul Winton, from the 1Point5 Project, said the legal action is crucial , as climate change is a looming threat. This is a really important piece of legal action, because it seeks to bring the thinking from the Climate Change Commission in line with the science of climate change, which the advice that was submitted in May does not unfortunately do.
Climate scientist James Renwick says the window for action is closing fast.
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They say that while the need for action to lower emissions and tackle climate change has never been greater, they doubt the government will step up.
It is being pitched as a Covid-19 recovery budget, as the world starts to emerge from 16 months focussed on battling the virus.
Victoria University climate scientist James Renwick said the window for climate action was closing fast. Forget 10 years to sort emissions it s really only 18 months. It s this period last year and this year where governments are making investments, we ve got to get that right - the pressure is on.