The Minister for Climate Change admitted this week that emissions will continue to increase for the remainder of this budget period, National’s Climate Change spokesperson Todd Muller says.

“Minister Shaw said today in Environment Select Committee that emissions will continue to rise until 2023, which is as far as this budget process stretches.

“Despite the claims by this Government that climate change is this generation’s ‘nuclear-free moment’, the Minister is simply passing the baton on to future Governments.

“The Minister has been quick to propose emissions reduction targets that would keep New Zealand within a ‘1.5C limit’. This actually requires carbon dioxide emissions to reduce by about 5 per cent annually over the next 10 years, but the technology to achieve these goals is elusively on the horizon.

“Once again this Government has set an ambitious target and failed to deliver on its promises.”

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