Submissions on the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill closed on 16 July 2019. FMC recognizes that climate change is a matter of highest importance, and that our recreational activities contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and to climate change. FMC therefore wrote a submission, summarized here:
- FMC supports the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Bill in principle as an important first step in establishing a regulatory framework for addressing climate change. FMC has recently adopted the concept of a “recreation transition”, to encourage our members to change their recreation patterns to be lighter on the earth. This might mean fewer or no overseas holidays if air travel is involved, and focusing more on local areas for recreation, rather than long distance travel.
- We note that despite energy being the driver of economies and life supporting systems, the Bill does not mention “energy”, except in the context of emissions accounting. This omission may limit the scope of the Commission in an area that it must focus on.
- The Bill falls short of its set goals, in that it provides mainly for reports on climate risk assessment and adaptation plans, as well as regular NZ Greenhouse Gas Inventories. It appears to be focused primarily on information gathering and reporting.
- The newly established Climate Change Commission should engage with the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission / Te Waihanga on matters of mutual interest.
- Renewable and non-renewable energy systems should be included in the list of matters that the Climate Change Commission should focus on.
Click here to read FMC’s submission on the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill.
Photo at top: The Impact of Climate Change: snow free Barrier Knob, Darran Mountains. February 2019. (c) D Hegg
