A billion dollars of climate delay

Green Media Release 5-5-08

The Greens are calling on Government to save taxpayers from a billion dollar greenhouse bill by moving quickly to reduce our emissions.

"It's better to spend money investing in emission reductions in New Zealand than buying carbon credits from overseas," says Dr. Russel Norman, Green Co-leader.

The Government today released the latest update on the cost of meeting New Zealand's Kyoto obligations which showed that it had officially reached one billion dollars for the first time.

"This shows that it is a false economy to backtrack on measures to reduce greenhouse emissions as National and Labour are suggesting.

"Every dollar we spend on buying carbon credits overseas is a dollar we could have spent on reducing our own emissions in New Zealand.

"We should be investing in home insulation and public transport to reduce our emissions so that we don't have to spend a billion dollars buying carbon credits from overseas. This is a win-win solution for New Zealand - warmer houses and better transport choices.

"Now is not the time for Labour and National to get cold feet on measures to reduce our greenhouse emissions. The delays by National and Labour led Governments in the past have already cost us a billion dollars and rising."

A change in the exchange rate pushed the Kyoto bill over the one billion dollar mark but the underlying greenhouse emissions in excess of 1990 levels is 45.5 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent and this is the cause of the large bill. The figures are based on a very conservative price for carbon credits.

ENDS

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