13 September 2007

Kiwis say, do more, faster on climate change, Helen

A new poll showing that more than half of New Zealanders do not think the Government is doing enough about climate change should be a wake up call for the decision-makers, the Green Party says.

Co-Leader Jeanette Fitzsimons says the 3 News poll showed 81 percent of New Zealanders now believed that climate change was real and 55 percent felt the Government was not doing enough to combat it.

"I'm proud to live in a country where people are so aware and concerned and want action. No government can claim now that they don't have a mandate for strong action as soon as possible.

"The Government has taken far too long to come up with an action plan, and many of the steps it has taken so far would not have happened without continued pressure from the Greens.

"In fact in the last few weeks we have seen this Government taking backward steps. It blocked moves at a UN meeting in Vienna to agree on strict emissions targets, caved in to APEC's demands to continue to allow greenhouse gas emissions to grow and just this week Finance Minister Michael Cullen admitted the Government is so desperate to sign up to a free trade agreement with China that is turning a blind eye to that country's involvement in the illegal and unsustainable logging of tropical forests, when world wide, deforestation is responsible for 20 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.

"This Government clearly has the support of New Zealanders to take urgent action on climate change - aspirational goals are just not enough. The Greens have provided many suggestions for what needs to be done. It is about time we saw something happening," Ms Fitzsimons says.

ENDS

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