The delay of New Zealand’s emissions reduction plan is embarrassing – we need action now | Adam Currie

Every time we postpone change we make it harder to transition to the low-carbon economy we need to help prevent global heating

Last week, New Zealand’s government announced a five-month delay to the emissions reduction plan (ERP) – its key programme for combatting climate change. This is gutting – climate decisions by many organisations and institutions have been delayed since 2017; first to wait for the Zero Carbon Act, then the advice of the Climate Change Commission, and now the ERP, which won’t be announced until the budget in May.

The postponement even requires an embarrassing legislative change to the Zero Carbon Act to get around the December 2021 deadline for the plan, which is currently enshrined in law. Every day of delay makes the transition we will have to make to a low-carbon Aotearoa – and the ability to make it fair for affected communities – more and more difficult.

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from World news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/3hUNq3J